Sister Star
by Almadynis Rayne
Summary: Kidnapped by the Master, Astrid must find her way in the world of Doctor Who. What will she change with her knowledge of the future? What will stay the same? DoctorxOC, 1st in series
1. Astrid

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 1: Astrid**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters, plotlines, etc. are not mine. No matter how much I wish that I was Russell T. Davies illegitimate offspring. *sigh*

However, Astrid is mine in every way, shape, and form. *glomps* No takies!

AN: This particular chapter is inspired by the fanfic "NotRose" by NoVacancyMind. It is an excellent story, and I highly recommend it.

Also, I am an American…which means my British colloquialisms come from watching Doctor Who and Torchwood so much its scary. So forgive me please if I mess up…I have only one beta. If anyone wants to volunteer, please PM me.

_thoughts_

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><p>Her house sat in the middle of two and a half acres of land in the middle of where nowhere was sixteen years ago when they moved in. Since then, especially over the last five years or so, the closest city had slowly moved outward and housing developments were cropping up only a half-mile away. But it was a beautiful spot, a little pond in the backyard full of catfish and perch, a swimming pool in the front yard complete with diving board and slide. Surrounded by trees in the back and weeds along the fence encasing the property.<p>

They had two horses, both getting on their years, which were quite comfortable never being ridden. Three dogs, two German Shepard sisters that were finally getting old enough not to jump on everything, fenced in themselves to ward off suitors when 'that time of year' arrived. A Golden Retriever stray that had just stuck around had a sweet enough disposition to sleep inside at night. Recently, their oldest dog had to be put down. Another German Shepard named Tygger had developed cancer in her hips and had just never come home from the vet's office. They had seen it coming of course, so the blow wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still sad. She hadn't even gotten a chance to say goodbye. Three cats, all of whom hated her because she kept tossing them out of the house. And god-knew-how-many mice in the barn that the cats were supposed to be eating.

In the summer months of June and July, the blackberry bush on the fence to the horse pasture grew ripe and countless pies, cobblers, jam, and fruit desserts were made. She loved cooking, but didn't get to enjoy it often since she was still in school.

She was a mathematics major at the local public university, commuting every day since it was cheaper than boarding. She even lived with her parents, her overprotective ex-military father, and a mother who was just as cynical. They loved her very much, she knew. As their only child, since they met so late in life, she was slightly spoiled, but her past was a bit darker than their white-picket fence façade. She was grateful for everyday she had with her parents, and loved them back with as much ferocity and protectiveness as they did her.

Her father and she had many of the same interests, from books, to movies and television series, and games. They had no secrets and she quite often asked him for advice. She was a daddy's girl and was proud of the fact. They also shared two genetic quirks that separated them from the general public. They were both intelligent and possessed a learning difficulty called Attention Deficit Disorder, or ADD. It just brought them closer together. They would often slip in movie references and quotes into their casual speech. Since the two of them liked much of the same things, they knew what the other was talking about. Not many could make that claim. Even her mother was lost when it came to this part of their relationship; though she was just as smart as her husband and daughter, and in some respects even more so, she did not have ADD and thus was not always able to keep up with the rapid shifts in conversation between the two of them.

Her favorite TV series, and her father's too, was a BBC show called Doctor Who. Neither of them could watch the old stuff from the 1960s and on, the bad acting making them both shake their heads in despair, but the 2005 series beginning with Billie Piper and Christopher Eccelson they both fell in love with. David Tennet was their favorite Doctor, and quoted episodes almost daily.

As a joke one day, she turned to her father and said "If the Tardis shows up, I'm going with him. School can wait."

He had rolled his eyes playfully and shrugged, "Just as long as you leave a note and are back in time for dinner. It is a time machine; I shouldn't even know you're gone." She laughed, hugged her father, and life went on.

* * *

><p>Astrid was dressed in blue jeans, a light blue t-shirt with blue and green butterflies, and black sneakers. It was about five in the afternoon, a perfect time to pick blackberries. The heat of the day was passing and nobody was home. It was a time when she could think and dream without worrying about chores, homework, tests, or work the next day. A bucket for the pickings under one arm, she walked between the horse stalls and barn to get to the small blackberry bush. It produced enough that she had to freeze them before they went bad, but not enough to sell. And it was sure well worth the thorn she would have to dig out with an X-acto blade later.<p>

She had gathered up one handful and was working on the second when she heard that characteristic sound. Grinning, she looked up with the expectation of seeing her father with the portable DVD player, idly wondering how she could have missed him pulling through the squeaky gate. A frown crossed her features when she didn't see him; she began to glance all around as the dogs finally noticed something off and began to bark like mad. Shadow and Nightmare, the horses, ran out of their stalls, abandoning their supper, and raced to the far end of the pasture. She kept her eyes constantly moving, searching for the sound's source as she knelt to drop the blackberries into the container and in so doing, hiding behind the prickly bush.

Then it was over. The tell-tale sound stopped. But where was the source?

She couldn't see any disturbance anywhere, and she was facing the two entrances to the property. She couldn't see where the dogs were barking for the horse stalls, but she still could hear them. Whatever had made the Tardis landing noise hadn't left yet.

In a split second, it occurred to her where the only other place it could be (whatever 'it' was). They had a trailer on the property, sitting perpendicular to the barn. Once upon a time, they had rented it out to a nice couple. To give the family some semblance of privacy, they had installed a third entrance and a back way out of the yard. So, there was about a twenty by sixty foot area that she could not see from her hiding spot. And it just so happened to be behind her.

Curiosity getting the better of her, not for the first time, Astrid carefully picked her way to the end of the (relatively) empty trailer and peered around the corner. _That's it. I've finally lost it._ This thought triggered a memory of one of her favorite Stargate SG1 episodes 'Window of Opportunity', and she finished the line out loud, "Finally gone crazy. Nuts. Insane. Bonzo. No longer in possession of one's faculties. Three fries short of a happy meal. Wacko!" slightly under her breath.

And the reason why she was suddenly thinking she had gone off the deep end, was that a wooden, blue box was sitting in the yard. It proudly displayed the words 'Police Public Call Box' at the top, with a white sign on the left hand door on how to use the box, and a white cylindrical light bulb thingie (_technical term that_).

The doors opened with the squeak she had heard many times on the show, but out popped, not the Doctor in any face that she recognized, but the form of the Master as seen at the end of season three.

Astrid swallowed thickly, but didn't say anything, didn't move, and barely dared to breathe. _Of all the Time Lords to show up in my back yard, it's this one?_ _How the hell did my karma get this bad?_

The male Gallifreyan pulled out his laser screwdriver and started to scan the surroudings. From his perspective, he had landed in the middle of nowhere in front of a mobile home, trees and shrubs all around to block the view. As the scan went passed the closest corner of the house, it got louder and had more of a frequency wave before quieting down.

Astrid knew she had been caught and sighed. She stood up, straightened her back, gathered her courage (_for all the good it will do me_) and stepped into his line of sight. _It's not like I have a handy bottle to bludgeon him with. _She stood about six feet away from him, close enough to see him blink at her, whether in surprise or confusion, she couldn't tell.

"Who are you?" His voice was just as she remembered, just as cold with a little hint of boyish charm. It terrified her. Knowing it would do absolutely no good to lie, she answered as concisely as possible.

"My name is Astrid."

He paused for a split second before he frowned, "Who else is here?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, "No one. My parents aren't home yet and the property behind you is a cow pasture. To the back is a pond full of fish and ducks." She pointed over her shoulder with her thumb before gesturing to a two story cottage across the street to her left. "And the Roger's moved out almost a year ago. Who are you looking for?"

"Bad Wolf."

Astrid blinked twice before what he said registered in all its complexity. "Billie Piper lives in Britian, about a thousand miles or more that way." She pointed east. "But she's not technically Bad Wolf. She played Rose Tyler in a TV series. Bad Wolf is a fictional character here. I think you've got the wrong dimension."

A smile that in a way reminded her distinctly of a wolf spread across his face, chilling her to the bone. "Bad Wolf did not occur as it should have in my world. Someone else should have been present. I worked together with the Doctor and ran simulations and equations. We came up with and discarded more theories than your puny mind can possibly comprehend. Every time we came up with the same answer, written in a numerical code. It placed that a second person should have been present when Bad Wolf was created. We plugged in the equation to the navigation program of the Tardis and received these coordinates. I barely got here before all the stars went out."

In spite of herself, curiosity made her ask a question when he took a breath. "You said the answer was a code. What did it say?"

"Dark Angel."

_How could he possibly know that name? There is no way! _She swallowed hard and tried ot keep her thoughts off her face. "Then why are you looking for Bad Wolf?" She cocked her head to one side in confusion.

"You would not understand." He sniffed, but the evil smile had only faded slightly and now it was back in full force. "For some reason, you are the only one who can fill the role of Little Star."

Astrid just looked at him for a minute. "So you want me to travel to your world, journey with Rose Tyler, be there when she becomes Bad Wolf, and supposedly my physical presence will be enough to save your world. Is that about right?" At his nod she shook her head slowly 'no'. "I'm sorry. But I have no guarantee that I will ever get home. I will graduate college in one more semester. My family is here. You will cease to exist as soon as we go back, if I go with you. I will have no money, no home, no clothes, no job, and no identification to get any of the aforementioned items. I'm sorry. I really am, but I'm not going."

The Master gave her a cold stare and said in that boyish tone he had used to threaten Jack, "Who said you had a choice?"

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><p><em>What do you think? Reviews are love!<em>


	2. Rose

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 2: Rose**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters, plotlines, etc. are not mine. No matter how much I wish that I was Russell T. Davies illegitimate offspring. *sigh*

However, Astrid is mine in every way, shape, and form. *glomps* No takies!

Also, I am an American…which means my British colloquialisms come from Doctor Who and Torchwood. So forgive me please if I mess up.

_Astrid's thoughts_

[break]

She was a brunette with sky blue eyes and a five foot four inch tall form to match. Her name was Astrid and she was also best friends with a girl named Rose Tyler, even though she was American.

Several years ago the company she worked for as a manager wanted to expand into Europe and she volunteered to head their London branch. That was how Astrid and Rose met, Astrid had been hiring for the new openings. The two girls had made an instant connection and since had treated each other as sisters. Astrid was only three years older than Rose anyway.

At least, this was the story she told Rose when Rose asked in the beginning of their relationship. Rose never thought to question it. Astrid never gave her reason to.

[break]

"Rose!" Astrid's voice with its incandescent ringing quality literally sang through the lobby of Heinrik's, like a bell choir. Though few customers were around at that time of day, all the regulars just shook their heads along with the employees at the all-too-familiar sound of their boss. Astrid had a reputation as a sweetheart with an unnatural ability to still be chipper at almost all hours of the day. And eight in the morning was no different than any other day.

Rose Tyler, Heinrik employee of 364 days, grinned at her best friend as she crossed the forum. She didn't speak until she was within 'inside' voice distance, but her tone was no less happy. "Morning Astrid. So what are you planning?" After almost a year being friends, Rose knew Astrid better than anyone alive. So the subtle tone to Astrid's standard greeting was quite blatant to her attuned ears.

"What? Can't I call over a friend on this beautiful morning and not have an agenda?" Astrid batted her eyelashes innocently.

Rose laughed. "Not with that tone you can't. Last time that tone came up, Mum's kitchen managed to get covered in exploded turkey."

"I cleaned it up! And besides, how was I supposed to know that would happen?"

"I'm pretty sure the stuffing recipe didn't call for a chemistry lesson in combustion." Rose grinned, "So, which kitchen do you plan to ruin this time?"

Astrid huffed indignantly. "None. I was wondering if you would like to go out tomorrow in celebration of one year as best friends."

Rose's face darkened considerably, though not for the reasons Astrid thought. Rose had known Astrid for twelve months and in that time had gotten to know the quirky, slightly eccentric interior. Many nights of staying up talking, aided by alcohol, had revealed secrets that only Rose knew. How Astrid didn't have a family anymore out of a forced choice. How her childhood was beyond not-normal and the reasons for her being such a bookworm and science geek. In her 22 years of living, Astrid had lived a lifetime of loneliness and misery. Astrid's only friend was Rose.

Most of the time, Rose forgot about Astrid's past because she was so good at hiding it. But every now and then, Astrid would say something that would remind Rose and she couldn't help but feel anger toward Astrid's family for making her this way. The argument of nature versus nurture was a lost cause in Astrid's case.

"You can bring Mickey if you want. Heck, bring your Mom." Astrid said hesitantly at Rose's expression, snapping the girl out of her thoughts.

"No, that's sounds brilliant. Actually, Mickey would be nice to have along, but Mum probably wouldn't like it." Rose pasted on a smile to reassure her friend. "Anything special you need me to do today?"

Astrid nodded quickly, gesturing Rose into her office –if the little 100 foot square room could be called that—and pointed out the Ziploc bag of pounds and change. "I have that doctor's appointment this afternoon, so I'm leaving early. If you could give that to the chief electrician after closing I would appreciate it. It's the lottery money and the company wants Wilson to use it to upgrade the water heater. Apparently they've been getting complaints."

Rose nodded easily. "No problem."

Astrid gave her a little wink, "As I am a good friend, I will give it to the doorman on the way out to remind you so that you don't forget."

Rose raised an eyebrow, "Why can't he deliver it then?"

"Because I don't trust him when the cameras are off," she answered seriously. Astrid's expression changed easily into a genuine smile as she leaned in to hug her friend. "Wish me luck. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good luck!"

[break]

Astrid walked into her apartment and dropped her keys onto the side table before she laughed in delight as her golden dog, Julian, came bounding up in another attempt to lick her to death. Thirteen months she had been in London. Fifty six weeks of pure hell. The only bright spots were Rose and Julian. She had found Julian the very first night, a stray that wouldn't leave her be. Over a year later and he still didn't like her out of his sight.

She actually lived just a few doors down from Rose, by complete accident too. They met by chance at the store the day she took over as manager. They had hit it off instantly. At the time, Rose was bemoaning all guys and Astrid's comment of "love 'em and leave 'em" had Rose laughing. They had become inseparable ever since. Jackie sometimes said that Astrid might as well be her second daughter.

But neither of them knew the whole story. How she had been dumped in an alley, a goose egg on the back of her head from being knocked unconscious since that had been the only way the Master could get her into the TARDIS. He had shoved a knapsack into her hands. It was a special Time Lord knapsack, bigger on the inside, and contained all the things that she had said wouldn't be available: clothes, money, and identification. As well as GCSE's and A-levels, which at the time she had no clue what were, but they got her a job as the manager of Heinrik's.

In that first week, a lot happened. A job hunt, an apartment hunt (_they call them flats! Remember, flats!_), and the language barrier was a huge undertaking. She still couldn't get used to it. Even though after watching Doctor Who for god knew how many hours she could pick up and adopt the accent easily enough, the slang of Britain still threw her sometimes. She had almost had a conniption the first time someone had offered her a 'fag'. Not to mention the time she had told Rose that she had gotten a wonderful 'half-price shag' carpet. Rose still held that over her head as blackmail material.

Astrid had also noticed the date when she landed. She knew that if everything went as with the release date of the first episode of the new Doctor Who series, it meant she had quite a while to wait. Apparently the Master couldn't drive either. So, in a fit of inspiration, she picked up a leather bound black journal and worked one whole weekend recording down all the episodes she could remember, in as much detail as possible, in order. She knew she forgot some—some episodes she only watched once because she either didn't like them or they made her cry—and others were just a few paragraphs of what she could remember—as opposed to 'Girl in the Fireplace' and 'The Doctor's Wife' as her favorite episodes she could practically quote them all the way through—but hoped she had gotten most of them down. The book, once completely filled with the Doctor's life from Nine to Eleven's first year and a half, went into a small space under a loose floorboard under the dark green shaggy carpet in her bedroom. That was where it had stayed until the last month. Astrid had noticed that it was about the month that the new Doctor aired, and had taken to keeping it in her purse at all times, just in case. For all she remembered of the episodes, remembering what exact day the new series aired had never really been on her list of things to concentrate on.

So she lived. Going from day to day, waiting for the Doctor to show up. Rose helped a lot, more than she could ever know really, but it wasn't enough. Her parents had been the only people to understand her, never to criticize a decision or interest or comment. She'd never had a boyfriend for long because they all thought she was too weird or crazy. Her parents kept her from feeling lonely. Now she would never see them again. Her father, her best friend in the whole world, she would never again hear his hyena-like 'evil' laughter as he 'whomped' on World of Warcraft. She wouldn't ever feel her mother's comforting hug ever again. No more 'I love you's or 'I love you more's. She truly was alone.

No matter how much Rose tried to pull the truth out of her—and she did a really good job with alcohol since Astrid was a cheap drunk—Astrid never spoke of how her American self got to England with perfect papers except for the cover story she had come up with. Rose knew of her childhood, the adoption and school, her ADD and book addiction. But Astrid never spoke of how she came from another world. There was not enough alcohol on the planet to make her say that.

Shaking her head from the depressing thoughts she kept so tight behind her mask, Astrid stripped off her clothes and fell into her bed, feeling the bed dip as Julian jumped up and nestled beside her legs. "Goodnight, my baby." He was the only connection she allowed herself. The only one who knew everything, for he had been there to see her arrival.

[break]

She was woken from her sleep by the phone ringing insistently. Blinking blearily awake, she grabbed the receiver and spoke, "Hello?"

"Is this the manager of Heinrik's clothing store?" That got her attention. She clicked on the light on the bedside table and sat up.

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Yes ma'am. A bomb exploded there an hour ago. I'm afraid I need you to come down here to identify some remains."

Astrid closed her eyes, knowing exactly who was dead, but unable to say unless she became a suspect. She would have to go see the body. It had started. The Doctor had finally showed up.

[break]

Hours later, running on way too little sleep, Astrid made her way into the pizza parlor that Rose had called. Mickey would be joining them as well…_sorta. He's not Mickey is he? This might get awkward._

She sat beside Rose while Mickey was across from his girlfriend. He sat there in a white shirt and black jacket, smiling inanely. Rose was wearing a gray and magenta hoodie, not really focusing on Mickey, talking about trying to find a new job. No matter the real reason for this luncheon, the blow up of Heinrik's had shadowed all of it.

"Is that it, then-dishin' out chips? I could do A-levels." Rose looked at Astrid with a serious face. "You got a good job with 'em. I dunno. It's all Jimmy Stones' fault. I only left school 'cause of him and look where he ended up."

Astrid grinned, that was the boy Rose had been bemoaning when they met and repeated her wisdom. "Love 'em and leave 'em." _Not that I have a lot of wisdom, never having had a boyfriend. And now I can't. Doctor comes through, only guys that will ever travel with him are Jack and Rory, and one is a player and the other is taken. Well, Mickey did travel a little bit but then he stays in the other world. No-win situation. Face it; I'll be alone for a very long time._

Rose smiled with her best friend and faced Mickey, "What do you think?"

The Mickey Lookalike leaned forward, "Where did you meet this Doctor?"

Rose half glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was I talking about me for a second?"

Lookalike just talked over her, "'Cause I reckon it all started at the shop. Am I right? Was he something to do with that?"

Rose looked at her hands on the table top, "No."

"Come on." Lookalike said, trying to wheedle his way to the answer. He grinned winningly.

"Sort of." She admitted slowly.

"What was he doing there?" His tone changed to one that was slightly threatening. Astrid shivered but stayed silent. _I can't change anything here. If I do, then the Doctor might not show up and I really don't want the Master on my ass again. He gave me a concussion last time. Probably maim me next._

"I'm not going on about it, Mickey. Really, I'm not. 'Cause I know it sounds daft but I don't think he's safe. He's dangerous."

"You can trust me sweetheart. Babe. Sugar. Babe. Sugar." Lookalike had slipped up with his voice at the end and Astrid began to tense. Discreetly as possible, she grabbed her purse strap and tightly wrapped it around her hand. Mickey Alike had kept going; he hadn't even glanced at her the whole time, focusing completely on Rose. "You can tell me what the Doctor's planning and I can help you Rose. That's all I really want to do, sweetheart. Babe. Babe. Sugar. Sweetheart."

Rose frowned slightly, finally having noticed the odd behavior. "What are you doing that for?"

There he was. The Doctor appeared by their table with a bottle of alcohol. "Your champagne." Astrid looked up at him, but he was looking at Mickey Lookalike. The Doctor was just as she had dreamed hundreds of times since she had arrived. Tall, black leather jacket, black shirt and slacks with black shoes. The ears sticking out, his chiseled features and close-cropped hair style. It was exactly as she remembered. _I'm just as invisible to him as Mickey Alike. Not important enough to acknowledge. Which means I must stick close to Rose if I want to get on the TARDIS. Fair enough. There was a reason I wore my black sneakers today. 'There's an insane amount of running involved.' Just as Donna said._

Lookalike didn't even glance at the Doctor, the irony lost on the plasticman. "We didn't order any champagne. Where's the Doctor?" He grabbed Rose's hand. _Don't hurt her you asshole!_

The Doctor moved around the table to Rose's left side, "Madam, your champagne." She didn't glance at him either. "It's not ours. Mickey, what is it what's wrong?"

"I need to find out how much he knows. So where is he?" _Oh, he knows that you are plastic, that the Nestene Consciousness is on Earth, and that you plan on making humans your slaves. Nothing much at all._

"Doesn't anybody want this champagne?" The Doctor sounded almost hurt that no one was taking him up on his generous offer. So, in a fit of pique, Astrid answered, holding up her glass.

"Sure, why not. Mickey's being weird and she's only just noticed. Drunk's more fun." He finally looked at her, but only for a split second since Mickey talked straight over her.

"Look, we didn't order any—" And the Lookalike finally looked up and saw his quarry. "Ah! Gotcha!"

The Doctor started to vigorously shake the bottle. Astrid set down her glass, grabbed the body of her purse with the opposite hand, reached her fingers in to feel that The Book was there, and scooted her chair slightly away from the table. _And now comes the running…in 3…_

"Don't mind me. I'm just toasting the happy couple. On the house!" The cork went into Lookalike's forehead dead center. Mickey Alike rearranged it and then spit it back out across the table. _2…_

He jumped up, raised his hand and it turned into a giant spatula looking thing. _1…_

He brought it down on the table hard, but Rose and the Doctor were already up and away, Astrid sticking to Rose's side like glue, even if she screamed like a girl _She does have a wonderful excuse though._ Astrid watched as the Doctor jumped at Lookalike, grabbed his head and began to pull. Yanking three times before the head came off and the Doctor's momentum crashed him into a nearby table. She couldn't hear what Mickey said, but the man screaming was a little childish.

Rose looked at her best friend, hand tightly clutching her purse like a weapon, but the motion let her see the fire alarm and she pulled it. "Everyone out now!" _Now comes the fierce running._ They went, Rose first, Astrid in the middle, and the Doctor bringing up the rear. They ran from a headless plastic body with a spatula hand chasing them all through the kitchen, down a little dark hallway, _that's not at all ominous_, through a big metal door and into a back alley.

The Doctor shut the door, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and locked the door. Rose continued to run down the alley, running to the opposite chained gate, "Come on! Use that tube thing!"

He corrected her, "Sonic screwdriver."

"Use it!"

"Nah. Tell you what. Let's go in here." He walked casually over to the TARDIS and opened the door with the key. The last time Astrid had heard that squeaky sound of the door, she had been kidnapped five minutes later. _Suck it up girl. No getting out of this._ He walked through, closed it after him.

"You can't hide inside a wooden box!" Rose ran to the middle of the alleyway, where Astrid hadn't moved from since they had gotten into it. The blond looked at her friend, but the expression that she saw was one she was familiar with. It was the same expression Astrid got almost every day. A terrified longing.

The pounding on the metal door from the plastic man hadn't let up. Rose made her decision. She grabbed Astrid's arm and physically yanked her running into the blue box. She closed the door after the two of them, turned around and froze. Astrid stood to one side as Rose ran back out of the door.

Astrid heard the pounding and didn't see Rose. This was enough to kick her into gear. "Oh no you don't!" Astrid ran outside, grabbed Rose that was just standing there, and yanked her back in. "Freak later, running now. Yes, it's bigger on the inside. Yes, he's an alien. And yes, that thing out there following up is not Mickey." Astrid pulled the TARDIS door shut.

The Doctor hadn't paid a lick of attention to the two girls, but he did respond to her comments. "The assembled lords of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Believe me, they've tried. Now shut up a minute." He started to hook up things to the central console and began narrating. "You see, the arm was too simple, but the head is perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source. Right. Where do you want to start?" He turned to face the blond and brunette.

Rose looked at Astrid. Her friend smiled. "It's all right. He could have left us back there. We can trust him for now." Astrid squeezed Rose's hand gently, encouragingly.

The Doctor registered the comment, but didn't look offended. "It's called the TARDIS, this place. T-A-R-D-I-S. That's Time And Relative Dimension In Space." Rose suddenly sobbed, placing a hand over her mouth. Astrid turned her so that she cried into her shoulder. "That's okay. Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."

"She's not crying over the ship, she's crying over Mickey." Astrid glared at him. _I forgot how clueless he was in the first episode._ "Is he dead?" Rose straightened up and pulled away from her, getting some courage so that she could hear the answer.

"Oh. I didn't think of that." The Doctor frowned momentarily at himself.

"He's my boyfriend. You pulled off his head. They copied him and you didn't even think? And now you're just gonna let him melt?" Rose gestured to the console in outrage.

"Melt?" The Doctor turned around in time to see the Mickey Alike head deforming as it dripped down the console. "No, no, no, no, no!" He yelled as he swiftly ran up the catwalk, pushing button and pulling levers.

Astrid heard the noise that had started her life on this hellish quest to save the universe and she blanked out. She didn't hear anymore yelling or questions. Her heart was breaking, aching to see her parents again. Remembering the Master's words and hating him for them. The whooshing noise all she could focus on.

Then it was over and the Doctor ran passed her and out the door. "Don't go out there, it's not safe!" Rose yelled and dashed out the door as well. Astrid gathered herself, dropped her purse and The Book by the right column she stood next to and followed.

[break]

Astrid walked into a yelling match.

"If I did forget some kid named Mickey, it's because I'm trying to save every stupid ape blunderin' about on top of this planet, all right?" The Doctor yelled at Rose, his back toward the TARDIS and Astrid.

Rose was shocked, "All right?"

"Yes, it is!"

"If you are an alien, how come you sound like you're from the north?"

"Lots of planets have a north." He crossed his arms defensively and Astrid giggled. _I always loved that line._

"What's a police public call box?"

"It's a telephone box from the 1950s." He went over and patted the TARDIS lovingly. "It's a disguise." He grinned from ear to ear. Astrid moved out of his way and went to stand by Rose.

"And this, this living plastic, what's it got against us?" Rose moved away from Astrid and toward the Doctor.

"Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect." The Doctor moved toward Rose until there was barely a foot between them. "Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war. All its protein planets rotted, so Earth—dinner!"

"Anyway of stopping it?" Astrid chimed in, feeling a little left out. _Hope they don't notice that I haven't asked about what the Nestene Consciousness is…I missed that part of the tell-all here._

He reached into his coat and held up a vial of blue liquid. "Antiplastic."

Rose frowned, "Antiplastic?"

"It's like antipasta, Rose. The two meet and go boom." Astrid commented with a smile. She had always thought of Italian restaurants and their appetizers as hilarious and had explained it to Rose the first time they ever went to one together.

The Doctor looked at the brunette, really looked, for the first time. The woman was a little shorter than the blond, maybe twenty years old. She was in a dark green long sleeved shirt that hugged her in all the right places and blue jeans. But it was her eyes that drew him. Even behind the wire-rimmed glasses he could see that they knew things, made connections that others didn't, intelligent. But dark. Sad. Something had happened to her, something that had made her simply accept what was in front of her. She hadn't even blinked at the TARDIS, nor at the plastic boy chasing them. She was different. Not broken, but close. Now was not the time to be thinking about it though. "First I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on. Hide what?" Rose frowned in confusion.

"The transmitter. The Consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic. So it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."

"What's it look like?"

"Like a transmitter."

"Doesn't help." Astrid said.

"Round and massive. Somewhere slap bang in the middle of London. A huge metal circular structure. Like a dish. Like a wheel." He and Rose, Astrid following beside Rose, walked down the sidewalk as he gestured more expressively. He pulled to a stop to gesture more fully and was innocently framed under the London Eye. "Close to where we're standing. Must be completely invisible."

Rose looked at the wheel, then at her friend. Astrid was shaking her head, hand on top and looking down as her shoulders shook with laughter. Rose turned to the Doctor, confident that she was right since Astrid had seen it too.

"What?" The Doctor said, just as clueless as before. Rose looked pointedly behind him. He turned around but didn't stay long before he turned back. "What?" Rose looked again. "What is it? What?"

Astrid glanced up at him, her smile the first he had seen on her and was amazed at how it lit up her face and blue eyes. "The Eye you dumbo." It was all she could get out before she was back to laughing. _How a man with the highest IQ in the galaxy can miss something so important is just bloody hilarious! Oh damn, I just thought 'bloody'. I really am turning into a Brit._

He turned back, and finally saw what they had. "Oh." He grinned at the laughing girl, "Fantastic!" He ran toward the bridge, Rose and Astrid at his heels. About halfway across the bridge he reached out and grabbed the nearest hand, only discovering that it was Astrid's when he let go and faced the two girls. Astrid also had a tight grip on Rose's hand though. "Think of it—plastic all over the world. Every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables…"

"The breast implants." Rose interjected and Astrid snorted softly.

The Doctor looked at the brunette again, wondering how much like him she was. How much had she lost that she thought this kind of situation funny? "Well, we found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."

Rose turned around and ran to the side of the walk, looking for way under the river. "What about down here?" she called over her shoulder, raising her eyebrow when she saw the way that the man was looking at her best friend. Astrid had always been oblivious to how beautiful she was, just didn't see the looks she got from any male. She wore the clothes because they were comfortable and she liked them, but never noticed how they hugged her curves made her attractive. Rose made up her mind, that if the man stayed, she would get them together whether they liked it or not. She had Mickey; it was time for Astrid to have someone.

They all raced down and dropped into the manhole entrance. Carefully being as quiet as they could, they moved through the levels and toward the ominous red light at the end of the tunnel. The three of them stopped when they saw a huge vat of liquid orange, yellow, and red. "The Nestene Consciousness. That's it inside the vat. A living plastic creature." The Doctor gestured.

Rose was beside the Doctor and wondering how she could maneuvar Astrid into her spot and didn't really think about what she said next, "Well then, tip in your antiplastic and let's go."

The Doctor glared at her for a second, his eyes seeking out the brunette and saw that she was also glaring at her friend. More pieces to the puzzle. He loved puzzles. "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance."

He turned and made his way further down into the large room, down stairs and across catwalks, Rose behind him and Astrid behind her. He raised his voice so that he could be heard from thirty feet up, "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation."

Astrid covered her ears as the vat roared. It was grating, like a metal against plastic scraping noise. Nothing at all like the show. It hurt her ears it was so loud.

"Thank you. If I might have permission to approach?" the Doctor stayed where he was, but Rose made her way down more stairs when she caught sight of Mickey on a catwalk. The Consciousness gave a less loud sound as Rose rushed down to her boyfriend, followed closely by Astrid. The Doctor walked behind them.

Rose went to her knees by Mickey. "It's all right. I'm here."

"That thing down there—the liquid, Rose—it can talk!" Mickey was in shock. _How in the heck can he understand the Consciousness? We can't and we traveled in the TARDIS…speaking of, shouldn't the translation circuits have kicked in? Or do we have to travel in time for them to do that?_

"You're stinking! Doctor, they kept him alive!" Rose yelled up to him, happiness in her tone but it quickly vanished at his reply.

"That was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy." The Doctor said over his shoulder as he walked further down stairs to get closer to the Consciousness.

"You knew that and you never said?" Rose and Astrid both glared at him. Rose from around Mickey and Astrid standing by the side.

"Can we keep the domestics outside? Thank you." He went further in to a platform above the Nestene to talk. The three humans stayed on the catwalk one floor above him. Though both girls were on their feet, leaning in to see what was going to happen, Mickey was still kneeling. The kid needed to grow a spine. "Am I addressing the Consciousness?"

Astrid covered her ears again as the creature roared the answer. A vague face-shape formed in the vat. "Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated the civilization by means of warp-shunt technology, so may I suggest with the greatest respect that you shunt off?" More roaring. "Oh don't give me that. It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights." The face raised itself out and moved side to side as it roared. Astrid tightened her grip on her ears, tears leaking out of her eyes.

"I am talking! This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk, but they are capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please just go." He missed the two plastic men coming up behind him.

Rose yelled out to him, trying to get his attention but it was too late. He was caught on either side and saw Mickey's fear, Rose's worry, and Astrid's pain. The Doctor was distracted from the image they made as one of the plastic men reached into his coat pocket and found the antiplastic. "That was just insurance. I wasn't gonna use it." The Consciousness roared. "I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear. I'm not." It roared louder. "What do you mean?"

A panel opened to reveal the blue box of his spaceship. "No! Honestly, no! Yes, that's my ship" The Nestene roared again, its tone changing and Astrid whimpered. "That's not true. I should know. I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault." A roar. "I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them!"

The creature roared and waved its body in outrage. Rose couldn't take it anymore. She could see her friend in agony from the thing speaking, and her boyfriend was useless. "What's it doing?"

"It's the TARDIS. The Nestene's identified it as superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final base. It's starting the invasion. Get out, Rose. Grab Astrid and leg it now!"

Rose immediately pulled out her cell phone as the Consciousness roared an order, calling her mother. "Mum? Where are you, Mum? No, go home. Just go home right now. Mum? Mum!" Blue lightning, or what looked like it, slammed into the ceiling of the room, blowing a hole through so that it could reach the London Eye above them.

"The activation signal. It's transmitting!" The Doctor yelled. The Consciousness had finally quieted to a more bearable level and Astrid uncovered her ears. In time to hear Rose say that it was the end of the world. A low humming filled the air as the Eye began to transmit.

"Get out, Rose! Just get out! Run! Astrid, run!" But Astrid was covering her ears again as the Nestene roared louder, whimpering in pain.

Rose grabbed her friend by the shoulders and held her close. "The stairs have gone!" She held Astrid with one arm and snatched Mickey's sleeve with the other and forced them to run to the TARDIS as she saw the Doctor try desperately to get free.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Astrid looked at the Doctor and he looked at her. Rose and Mickey pounded on the ship's doors before realizing they didn't have a key. Rose turned around and all she could do was stare in horror, Mickey clutching her tightly on her left as Astrid cried in agony on her right. She sank to the floor in terror, not knowing what else to do.

Astrid had given up trying to block the aching sound of the Nestene Consciousness' language. She stood there as she heard the creature call out the Doctor species. _The translation circuits are starting to work. But_ _he still only sees Rose. How could I possibly think for a second he would want me when he has her? Her love is the reason Bad Wolf exists in the first place. Will exist. Whatever._

Rose slowly got to her feet. She had to do something. This man looked at her friend and her friend looked at him with an expression she had always wished to see. They couldn't die now, not when she knew Astrid hadn't been laid yet. The world couldn't end until after Astrid got to experience the same kind of love she felt for Mickey. She wouldn't let it. She ran over to the wall, Mickey yelling something behind her. Rose grabbed a handy axe and raised it above her head, trying to aim. "I've got no A-levels. No job. No future. But I'll tell you what I HAVE got." She swung the axe as she tried to unhook the chain. "Jericho Street Junior School Under-7s Gymnastics Team." She pulled the chain to her and got a good grip. "I've got the bronze." Then she ran to the side of the walk and swung.

The Doctor used her distraction to pull the plastic man holding him over his shoulder and into the Consciousness. Her swing landed her feet into the other plastic dummy that was holding the antiplastic, dumping it over the side and into the vat as well. She continued to swing, holding on tightly as the Nestene began to have glowing blue spider cracks throughout its body. The Doctor called out Rose's name right before she swung back and he caught her.

"Now we're in trouble!" He grinned at her then ran up to the ladder to the catwalk. Explosions started to rain down on their heads from the ceiling of the vast room and the humming stopped as the Eye quit. The Doctor got out his key and went to the door of the TARDIS, Rose grabbed Astrid's arm as she passed and pulled her along. They got through the door of the Doctor's ship as the Consciousness glowed brighter.

The door closed and the whooshing noise started up as they began to travel through space. Astrid was still gripped by Rose as she stood by her purse. Astrid could just see The Book's binding peeking out of the opening and relaxed slightly. That journal had the information to destroy this universe and all others. It needed to be kept safe and away from everyone else, the Doctor especially.

[break]

As soon as they landed, Mickey was out of the ship at a run, staring at the TARDIS with as much terror as he had the Consciousness. Rose walked out with dignity, calling her mother at the same time. Rose laughed softly and grinned when she heard her mother's voice safe and sound before she clicked the phone off.

Astrid stepped out of the ship, but didn't go far. She watched the others. Smiled at Rose when Rose grinned. Rose ran to her boyfriend. "Fat lot of good you were! Astrid are you alright? What happened down there?"

"It was so loud. It hurt. I'm sorry." Astrid looked down at the ground, blushing in shame. She heard the buzz of the screwdriver and glanced over to see The Doctor.

"Your hearing is about 20% above that of the average human. Still within normal ranges but enough that anything above a certain frequency causes pain. Probably because of your eyesight." He snapped his fingers as he smiled. "Nestene Consciousness? Easy!"

Rose, relieved that her friend was fine, gave The Doctor an incredulous look. "You were useless in there. You'd be dead if it wasn't for me."

The Doctor nodded, still grinning, "Yes, I would. Thank you. Right, then, I'll be off…unless…I don't know…You could come with me." He glanced at the brunette as she nodded slowly and gave her a soft smile. He focused back on Rose. "This box isn't just a London op, you know? It can go anywhere in the universe free of charge."

Mickey finally found his voice. He pointed at the Doctor, his tone afraid. "Don't. He's an alien. He's a thing!"

"He's not invited." The Doctor gave a slight glare at the boy. "What do you think? You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go anywhere."

Rose asked, knowing that Astrid had already agreed. "Is it always this dangerous?"

"Yeah."

Mickey grabbed onto Rose's waist and held her tightly, not taking his eyes off the Doctor. "Yeah, I can't. As much as I'd love to, I have to look after this stupid lump and find my mum, so…"

The Doctor's expression didn't change. "Ok. See you around." He stepped into the TARDIS and looked at Astrid, expecting her to join him.

The brunette stared at her best friend. "Don't you remember, Rose? He said TIME and relative dimension in space. You can be back in time for dinner. No one will notice." She saw that it didn't really register the meaning of her words, so tried again. "It's a time machine, Rose. We can come back whenever we want."

Rose smiled, pressed a kiss to Mickey's forehead, pulled out of his grip, and ran to the open doors. Astrid matched her grin and held out her hand. They clasped hands and ran into the TARDIS together.

[break]

_Well? Reviews are love!_


	3. The End of the World

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 3: The End of the World**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters, plotlines, etc. are not mine. No matter how much I wish that I was Russell T. Davies illegitimate offspring. *sigh*

However, Astrid is mine in every way, shape, and form. *glomps* No takies!

Also, I am an American…which means my British colloquialisms come from Doctor Who and Torchwood. So forgive me please if I mess up.

I now have a lovely beta! She is peaceloverhealer101, and writes "A Love Through Time" in the DW archives. Go check it out, she is wondermous!

**AN:** Parts of this chapter are inspired by the fanfic 'NotRose' by NoVacancyMind. Excellent story, I recommend it highly.

_Astrid's thoughts_

**Jack's telepathy**

* * *

><p>Astrid and Rose hit the walk of the TARDIS at a dead run and while Rose kept going, Astrid hung back, making sure that her purse was in the same place as she left it.<p>

The Doctor clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "Right then, Rose Tyler - you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice. What's it going to be?"

Rose glanced back at Astrid, but the brunette was smiling at her gently. "Go ahead Rose, I can choose the next trip." _Besides, it's not like I don't know what this trip is going to be anyway. Though I can't really remember the next one…something about a famous author? Maybe? I'll check The Book later._

The blond faced back to the Doctor and gave a little shrug. "Forwards then."

The Doctor pressed a few buttons on the glowing console and raised an eyebrow. "How far?

Rose shook her head at that question and just picked a number at random. "One hundred years."

He pulled a lever and turns a knob. The engines lurch, began that same whooshing noise, and then stopped after a few seconds. "There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century."

Rose gave him a disbelieving look."You're kidding!" _Of all the things to say, after what we've been through in the last two hours, and she says that?_

The Doctor of course was very nonchalant about it even though he had a slight teasing tone when he asked, "That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?"

Rose grinned at him, "Fine by me!"

The Doctor starts up the engines again, rolling a wheel, pumping a thingie—_very technical term_—and rotated a dial. When they stop, he looks at her. "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."

The blond grinned at him, shook her head 'no' and said teasingly, "You think you're so impressive."

He was indignant and frowned cutely. _Oh god, Star. Don't fall for him. He will never look at you that way, you know that. He loves Rose. Will love Rose. Same difference. No crushing on the hot Doctor. Oh crap…I'm screwed._ His voice shook Astrid out of her thoughts. "I AM so impressive!"

Rose grinned at him widely, "You wish!"

The Doctor pointed at her and he took on a stubborn tone, "Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He rolled the wheel for a lot longer than either of the two times before and flicked a switch by where Rose was standing next to the console. "Hold on." The engines rev up and start the whooshing sound while the Doctor pumps at a lever furiously.

Astrid closed her eyes slightly, one hand on the nearby coral-like column for balance as the TARDIS hurtles through the Time Vortex. _I know that eventually I will stop thinking of the Master every time I hear that noise. Lots of trips with the Doctor will do that by itself…but right now, I'm scared. I'm so scared._ Twisting a lever and then hitting a bell—the type you find at hotels and such to get attention—with the pinging noise, the TARDIS stopped it's sound and they landed.

Hesitating a scant second, Rose gave the Doctor a blank look, "Where are we?" In response, the Doctor held out his arm toward the doors. Rose grinned at him widely, "What's out there?" He gestures again to find out for herself. Rose turned towards the doors, took Astrid's hand as she passed and they stepped out of the doors together.

Astrid looked behind her at her purse, the Doctor finally noticing the paranoid gesture and bent to take a look. "Don't! It's my diary. Don't read it." He rolled his eyes at the 'domestics' before following the pair.

It was a beautiful gallery of sorts. The walls were a wooden façade, the floors done in a pattern of white and light brown squares and rectangles. It was simple but gorgeous in its simplicity. It had steps leading down and Rose and Astrid watched as the Doctor did something with his screwdriver behind them. The metal paneling before them receded down to reveal a view of the Earth, the sun behind it. They were in some kind of geo-stationary orbit around their own planet. It was so beautiful; it rendered both of the girls speechless.

The Doctor's voice came from behind them, quiet and gentle, as he came down the steps to stand beside them. "You lot. You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take time to imagine the impossible—that maybe you survive. This is the year 5.5/Apple/26. Five billion years in your future. This is the day... hold on..." He looked at his watch.

There was a brilliant light getting their attention. The sun burst out in all directions a white-blue sphere of light and fire. "This is the day the Sun expands. Welcome to the end of the world." _Oh yeah, that's cheery. He thinks being impressive is being morbid. Forgot about that._

* * *

><p>A computer voice that sounded like a woman interrupted their contemplation of the red and white sun. "Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."<p>

Rose walked beside the Doctor down a corridor, Astrid tailing behind. Rose had way more questions than her friend, so didn't really think about it. "So, when it says 'guests' does that mean people?" she asked, trying to understand and wrap her mind around life with the Doctor.

Astrid decided now was a good time to chime in, "He means all kinds of people, Rose. Including aliens. Well, mostly aliens."

Rose glanced at her friend before focusing back on the Doctor, "What are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?" Both girls watched as he stopped at a door and used his sonic screwdriver to open it.

He held open the door for them as he answered, "It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck. The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

"What for?" Rose raised an eyebrow at him, not quite sure she wanted the answer.

"Fun." They enter a large room even more beautiful than the viewing gallery. It was done in dark wood veneer and stains, with hanging chandeliers between every dark-stained pillar on the outer walls to their left and right. But the biggest feature of the room that caught your attention immediately was the 'window'. It started at the wall straight across from the door, and went from the floor to the ceiling, up and then WAS the ceiling. The whole room was built to observe whatever was outside Platform One.

The Doctor of course was seemingly unmoved by the eye-catching sight. _For all I know, he's been on this platform before and has seen it._ "Mind you, when I said 'the great and the good', what I mean is, the rich."

Rose kept up with him as he walked straight across the room and peered out of the full wall-ceiling-window. "But, hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra' - the sun expanding - that takes hundreds of years."

He didn't disagree, but just added. _One thing you can count on with the Doctor, always learning something new._ "Millions. But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" He pointed out of the window at tiny glints of light barely perceptible with the glare of the sun right behind the Earth. "Gravity satellites. Holding back the sun." He looked back at where Astrid had kept up with them, but she wasn't where he expected her. He glanced around and finally spotted her by the pillars, carefully examining the grain of the varnish. She was a very odd human. He was showing her the end of her planet, and she was looking at molding!

Rose attracted his attention again, "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought the continents shifted and things."

"They did. And the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!"

"How long has it got?"

The Doctor looked at his watch as Astrid came over to stand with them. "About half an hour. Then the planet gets roasted." He watched the brunette's face as he spoke and that was the only reason he saw the fleeting look of intense sorrow cross her face before it vanished a second later.

But before he had to store the look to analyze later since Rose was still asking questions, "Is that why we're here? I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

He looked at her closely, straight into her eyes. "I'm not saving it. Time's up."

"But what about the people?"

Astrid spoke in a flat tone, emotionless, "It's empty, Rose. They've been planning this…event…for a while. No one is left."

Rose looks at her friend then back to the window, realization spreading across her face. "Just us then."

Astrid nodded her head shortly, even though Rose couldn't see it, the Doctor did and wondered if this wasn't such a good idea for a first trip after all.

"Who the hell are you?" All three of them turned around at the unidentified voice. Since the only other occupant of the room was a blue man in a dark-copper-ish robe, he had to be the source.

The Doctor of course didn't seem to mind too much, taking everything in stride. "Oh! That's nice, thanks."

The blue man was clearly someone of importance and command. _That's right, he's the Steward. He's going to die in about 30 minutes…and I can't stop it._ The more she saw, the more she remembered of the episode. It had been more than a year since she had seen it, but it was coming back. _I never really thought about the reality of this. I have to choose who to save. God help me, but I choose Rose._ If she thought about it any harder, she'd cry. Astrid knew that she couldn't cry, it would draw undesirable attention to herself.

She knew that she couldn't keep up this charade forever. Eventually, the Doctor would figure it out that she was from a time other than 2005. Eventually, he would learn that she wasn't from this dimension. Eventually, she would have to tell him how she had come here and the reasons for it. Until then though, even if it sounded petty and selfish, she didn't want to think about it. Those thoughts had been the fuel of her nightmares for a year. For now, she would wait until he brought it up. She could only wish that it would be later rather than sooner.

"But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!" The Steward was almost frantic.

The Doctor took pity on the poor blue man. "That's me, I'm a guest, look! I've got an invitation!" He pulled out a small simple flip wallet and flashed it at the Steward. _There's the psychic paper, I wonder why he didn't use it last time. _"Look, there you see? It's fine, see? 'The Doctor plus two.' I'm the Doctor, this is Rose Tyler and Astrid. They're my plus two. Is that all right?"

"Well...obviously." The Steward simply blinked and apparently his training kicked in when he continued, "Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy."

The Doctor nods at him and smiled hugely. After the steward walks off, the Doctor shows Rose the card he had flashed at the steward. It was completely blank. He holds up the paper to show Astrid, but the girl is watching the Steward walk away with an expression of deep fear and pain. He could tell that the girl wasn't afraid of the blue man itself, it was something else. He filed it away as another piece to the puzzle of the brunette as he spoke to Rose, "The paper's slightly psychic. Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time."

"He's blue."

Astrid suddenly perked up at that comment, a completely different look on her face, one of outright teasing but her eyes were forcing happiness. "Are we having a state-the-obvious contest? Can I play?"

Rose's eyes went wide in horror and turned around abruptly to cover Astrid's mouth. "No! We are not getting into another of those games. Once was enough. I thought Mum would never speak to you again."

Astrid gently tugged down her hand. "Sometimes I think that would be a good thing. Your Mom is scary when she wants to be."

"Like you can talk, Bunnybear." The Doctor raised an eyebrow at this title and so Rose explained for his benefit. "We had shirts made even. '51% Bunny, 49% Bear, Don't Push It.' Most of the time she's really sweet. It's those other times that are scary. You made Mum back down once."

"That's because she was being stupid and about to do something really dangerous because she wasn't paying attention." Astrid crossed her arms defensively and glared at Rose. "I was completely justified."

Rose gave her a sweet smile and nodded. "I know. You were only looking out for us."

The Steward's voice interrupted this little domestic issue and drew their attention to the other end of the room as he spoke into a microphone. "We have in attendance, the Doctor, Astrid, and Rose Tyler. Thank you! All staff to their positions." He clapped his hands and at least a dozen little blue people in black outfits, presumably the staff, started to seemingly come out of the woodwork. The little people walked in lines out of the sliding glass doors and disappeared down the hallway. The Steward hadn't stopped talking while this was occurring. "Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along!" The staff was finally out the doors as he continued, "And now, might I introduce the next honored guest, representing the forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."

Three beings came through the doors. Two males stood behind a female. All had bark-like skin, twigs for hair, and had brown eyes. The males were in black armor while the female had on a dress in the colors of fire that was quite flattering to her figure and emphasized her breasts.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank-you." The three tree people came fully into the room and began to get into the process of trying to mingle as more people came in behind them. "Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon." _Oh, he said solicitors didn't he? Huh, outerspace lawyers. Go figure._

A different kind of blue male, this one rather fat and pudgy, was sitting in a chair that moved for him. The Doctor smiled cheerily at the display, as Rose looks on bewildered. The Steward just kept going. "And next, from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Mean." _Wait. A recurring pattern of averages…that makes no sense whatsoever! _The Doctor apparently thought so as well since he laughed softly, but he was looking at Astrid's incredulous expression.

"The inventors of Hypo-Slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!" At this point the entrance of new aliens got a little too much for Astrid to keep track of all of them. She kinda tuned out the Steward in favor of watching the approaching tree-people.

The female tree, Jabe, approached the Doctor and frankly just ignored the two women. Either side of her, her companions are holding plant trays with little shoots in them. "The Gift of Peace." As she took a plant out and hands it to the Doctor, she keeps talking. "I bring you a cutting of my grandfather."

The Doctor was a little awed, but not much, as he took the plant gingerly and handed it to Rose. "Thank you. Yes. Gifts…erm…" He clears his throat and starts feeling his jacket for something, patting down his pocket as Jabe looks at him expectantly. Finding nothing,he opens his mouth to say something when a soft voice behind the Doctor speaks, "I've got them, Doctor. Remember? You gave them to me for safe keeping."

He twists around to see Astrid, a small smile on her face, holding out her hand. In her palm sat three twists of Smarties candy. "Yes, thank you Astrid." He goes along with her comment as he takes the flavored sugar from her and turns to then hand them to Jabe. Rose began to giggle softly.

"Hush up, you." Astrid said playfully to her friend. "Just be glad I have enough."

"How much are you carrying that you can give one to everybody here?" Astrid blushed scarlet and Rose laughed outright. "At least you won't get on a sugar high this way."

The Steward was oblivious to this exchange. "Sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe." A huge head in an equally huge jar was wheeled through the doors. _Jack!_

The blue man in the chair, approached the Doctor, Rose, and Astrid. "The Moxx of Balhoon." The Doctor said in a grand manner.

The Moxx's voice was a bit high in pitch but it was at a soft volume as he spoke. "My felicitations on this historical happenstance. I give you the gift of bodily saliva." He spit accurately into Rose's left eye while the Doctor laughed as he thanked the Moxx.

Astrid gave Rose a small tissue while she shoved a handful of Smarties into the Doctor's palm while simultaneously glaring at him for the nerve of laughing at her friend's expense. Rose rubbed the spit out of her eye with the handkerchief and thanked Astrid.

Next, the Adherents of the Repeated Mean approached them. Astrid watched them warily as they held out a softball sized metallic sphere. "A gift of peace in all good faith." The Doctor takes it, throws it up into the air, catches it, and hands to Rose. Astrid immediately takes it from her friend and begins to examine it. Her fingers gently run over the seams and cracks of the ball, trying to find an 'off' button. _If I can turn the damn thing off, it won't kill anyone. Hopefully._

"And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human."

The Doctor looked at Rose and Astrid to see their reactions. The brunette was still studying the metal ball and wasn't paying attention, running her fingers along the outside structure and Rose stared in disbelief. The sliding doors opened and what looked like a vertical trampoline made of human skin was wheeled through. It had eyes and a mouth, and wore lipstick. "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

"Oh, now, don't stare. I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am." The Doctor laughed silently but heartily but Rose looked shocked. Astrid briefly glanced up, grimaced in anger and disgust, before focusing back on the metal softball. "Thin and dainty! I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." One of the two men in white body suits who wheeled her in is holding a canister, which he sprays onto Cassandra. "Truly, I am the last human."

Rose slowly creeped closer for a better look as Cassandra kept talking. "My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil." Rose had walked completely around to the other side of Cassandra and in so doing discovered that the 'Lady' was completely flat. "I have come to honor them and..." Cassandra sniffled softly, "_..._say goodbye. Oh, no tears." One of the white bodyguards wiped her eyes. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself - the last remaining ostrich egg."

One of the staff came in and displayed the egg to the room before putting it on a pedestal. "Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils."

Rose looked a little blank as Astrid snorted from her examination. Apparently, even though she wasn't watching, she still listened."Or was that my third husband?" Rose rolled her eyes, but the Doctor laughed. Astrid had to force herself not to growl. _Knowing who the bad guy is will be hard not to say anything. Not to mention, she's just a bitch in general._

"Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" Cassandra continues to talk to herself for a few seconds before she continues, introducing a large jukebox that is wheeled into the room by two of the staff. "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers." Rose looked amazed. "Play on!"

One of the staff presses a button and a record falls into place. The 'iPod' started to play Tainted Love by Soft Cell. The Doctor bops around appreciatively.

Astrid asked the Doctor softly beside him, "Do you ever want to correct them? Fix archeologists mistakes?"

He looked down at her with a blank stare before he smiled gently. "They would believe me?"

She sighed and nodded, "Good point."

The Steward called out in closing. "Refreshments will now be served. Earth Death in 30 minutes."

Astrid noticed that Rose had a lost, overwhelmed expression on her face. Everywhere the blond looked there are aliens, but no other humans. She rushed from the suite. Concerned, the Doctor started to follow her, but is stopped by Jabe snapping a picture.

The brunette knew that this was not the time that Rose got hurt, so she hung back. Keeping a tight hand on the metal ball, she walked over to the Face of Boe. "Hello Jack." She gave him a smile full of sadness.

**Hello, my Little Star. **His voice echoed in her mind, even deeper than she remembered from episodes. **It's been a long time. **She smiled at him as she placed one hand on the glass.

"Jack…I don't know what to do…I'm so afraid. All the time." She felt comfortable talking with him, almost like he was a big brother she could count on. "What if I can't change things? What if he comes back? I don't…"

**Shhhh, sshhhh…it will be alright. I am living proof Bad Wolf happened as it was meant to. If I might give some advice? **The telepathic equivalent to a bear hug enveloped her and Astrid felt encased in familial love. She nodded her assent. **The Doctor will understand. Tell him the truth—all of the truth, Star. Nothing of his personal future, but the rest of it. I promise, it will be alright.**

She kept her hands on his casing and laid her cheek on it as well. **And I will have you know that I will have cold baths on this Platform. **A mental chuckle. **So you don't have to worry about Raffalo. **Astrid gave a choke of laughter as tears tracked down her cheek. **I never could stand to see you cry, Little Star. **

Astrid was startled out of her tears when she felt the ball come online. She glanced down and said softly, bringing it up to eye level. The metal spider looked at her face with its red eye. She ran one finger along its back as if petting it and spoke in the tone she used with Julian. "Please…don't go. Stay here with me."

It 'blinked' by turning on and off its optic before climbing up her arm and settling on her shoulder. She smiled from ear to ear. "You need a name, then. How about…" she thought a moment, "James? Jimmy for short."

The newly designated Jimmy nodded frantically and she giggled.

**You see? Already you have changed events. That little robot will be with you a long time, Star. You change those around you without trying. It will be alright. Trust me.**

She nodded as the computer's female voice came over the speakers. "Earth Death in 20 minutes. Earth Death in 20 minutes."

**You should know, Little Star, that when we first meet, you cannot tell me of Torchwood. Do not tell anyone of their personal futures. **

The whole of Platform One took that moment to shake, jogging Astrid from her response. Steward came on the com system immediately, "Honored guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence."

**That is your cue, Little Star. The Doctor and Rose will need you.**

She gave one more pat to his glass as she nodded. "Thank you, Jack." He gave her another mental hug as she walked away.

Astrid saw the Doctor and Rose enter the room and she moved to their side as he was speaking he messed with the controls on one wall. "That wasn't a gravity pocket. I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that." He fiddled with the control panel next to the entrance door when Jabe came up from behind. He turned and smiled at Astrid, grinning bigger at her new pet. He did get a bit of a bad feeing though at the thought that someone here liked her enough to give her a special gift.

For the moment though, the 'gravity pocket' was more important. "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines - they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?"

She smiled slightly with a little self-deprecation. "It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make any sense to me."

"Where's the engine room?" He frowned at her.

"I don't know... but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And..." Jabe gestured to Rose. "…your wife."  
><strong><br>**"She's not my wife."

"Partner?"

"No."

"Concubine?"

"Nope."

Jabe looked again at Rose. "Prostitute..."

Astrid took this moment to intercede, her tone as cold as the Arctic. "Ms. Jabe. For all intents and purposes, you have greatly insulted my sister and thus me and my household. Even if you are flirting with our escort, you do not need to be rude to us. Rose, let us leave these two to…pollinate, and go have a word with Ja—Boe."

Rose nodded, extremely insulted. As they passed, Astrid gave the Doctor a very calm stare. "I had expected more of you."

"Don't start a fight." The Doctor did get the picture though, and felt more than a faint twinge at the brunette's last comment. Still, he offered his arm to Jabe. "I'm all yours."

Astrid turned back to watch them leave. "And I want you home by midnight!"

The Doctor grinned back at the pair, confident that neither were too angry with him. For some reason he couldn't pinpoint right now, he actually cared that they think well of him.

The computer's voice came over the comm. lines, "Earth Death in 15 minutes. Earth Death in 15 minutes."

* * *

><p>Astrid tried to keep Rose away from the Lady Cassandra, but between one moment and the next, Rose wasn't at her side. Looking around frantically, Astrid saw that Rose was just walking away from the 'bitchy trampoline' and she muttered an expressive curse under her breath.<p>

Rose walked off. The Adherents of the Repeated Mean watching her leave through the sliding doors. Astrid gave an apologetic wave to the Moxx of Balhoon as she took off after her. But she wasn't quite fast enough. She turned the corner at a dead run, but didn't see anyone in the corridor. She would have to wait for the Doctor.

Astrid knew that the Doctor would be coming for Rose, so she stayed in the corridor, hoping to see him and Jabe. _Next time, no splitting up! Why did she leave my side, I told her not to! If she dies because of stupidity, I'm finding a necromancer to bring her back so I can kill her myself!_

She barely heard Britney Spears' Toxic begin to play from the Manchester Suite. Anxious to see the Doctor, Astrid let her eyes roam into every nook and cranny before getting an idea. She looked to the spider on her shoulder, "Jimmy? Can you find Rose? The blond that was with us before. Can you find her? She's in terrible danger. Please."

The spider looked at his mistress and nodded quickly, jumping to a nearby control panel and pressing buttons until he got what he wanted. With one of his front legs, he gestured quickly 'come' and began to move swiftly down the hall.

Astrid gave a shout of triumph and followed him closely. Just a few doors down, he stopped nad gestured to the closed—and locked—door. "Good job, Jimmy." She praised him. Then she heard the computer calling out the sunfilter descending and knew she was out of time.

Rose's voice drifted through the door. "Let me out!"

"Sunfilter descending."

"Rose!"

"Astrid! Open the door!" Rose's terrified voice in a panicked state shot through Astrid's heart. Rose was a sister to her in all but blood. The only family she had left. She would NOT let her die.

Thinking frantically, Astrid closed her eyes, picturing the room that Rose was in. "Rose, is that the same room we came in before?"

"Yes! Let me out!"

Astrid thought quickly, then had her answer. "There is a small shelf under the window, it doesn't go completely to the floor." She saw the Doctor come running down the corridor toward them, but didn't stop talking. "Lay down with your belly on the floor as flat as you can, right up next to the wall. It'll minimize exposure to your organs and brain. Face flat to the floor Rose!"

"Okay!"

The Doctor was kneeling, his screwdriver in hand trying desperately to open the door. "Rose in there?" At Astrid's nod, he grimaced. "Would be her."

"Open the door." Astrid hissed at him.

"Hold on. Give us two ticks."

Astrid glared at him, then looked at James. "Can you help him, Jimmy?" The little bot had been watching the whole exchange, but at her question gave a sad noise and shook its head.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending."

Astrid gave a glance at the Doctor and spoke quietly. "Please, Doctor. She's all I have left." At this half-whispered statement, he showed a quick look of surprise. _Or understanding. He knows how I feel. That's probably what Jack meant that he could understand. He's lost everyone too._ A short nod and the Doctor began to redouble his efforts.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

Astrid sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"Sunfilter rising... Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor spoke in a tone that might as well be a curse, "This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever."

Rose's voice carried through the door. "Will you stop mucking about!"

"I'm not mucking about, it's fighting back!"

"Face to the floor Rose! Flat as you can!" Astrid called insistently, terror cutting through her heart.

The Doctor jabbed his sonic screwdriver right inside the wires of the control panel and the buzz got louder as he tried to keep her best friend alive.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

"The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there, Rose! Don't move!"

Rose's voice was sarcastic even through her terror. "Where're am I gonna go? Ipswich?"

The computer came onto the PA again, "Earth Death in 5 minutes."

* * *

><p>Astrid was right beside the Doctor was they entered the Manchester Suite where Jabe was informing the rest of the alien guests that the spiders had infiltrated all of Platform One.<p>

Cassandra ask, "How's that possible? Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me."

The Doctor came to stand beside Jabe, Astrid on his other side. "Astrid? Can I borrow Jimmy?"

The brunette gave a small nod and gently took James into her hand. "It's alright Jimmy. The Doctor is a friend."

Cassandra yelled out, "That's a spider device. Kill it!"

Astrid glared at her, the hatred in her eyes making several guests back away. "Leave. My family. Alone."

The Moxx of Balhoon put in his two cents worth. "Summon the Steward!"

"I'm afraid the Steward is dead." Jabe said sadly.

"Who killed him?" Moxx continued.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe! He invited us!" Cassandra called out as the Face of Bo shook his head inside his glass case. "Talk to the face! Talk to the face!"

Astrid gave a very impressive growl at the lady that shut her up quickly. "I warn you Cassandra. You won't like me when I'm angry."

James looked at his mistress from his position in the Doctor's hands. She was a little scary like this, but even the tiny robot knew that for this instance, it was okay.

As for the Doctor, he was looking at Astrid in a new light. She really was quite shy and quiet most of the time, but harm who she considered her family, and even he wasn't sure what the girl would do. At the moment, he was confident that the only reason she hadn't done something so far was because she trusted him. Time to live up to expectations. "Easy way of finding out. Someone bought a little pet on board." He grasped James by the body and gently set him on the floor. "Let's send him back to Master."

The spider immediately went to Astrid. This action made a small smile light up her face and she kneeled down. "No James, who was your master before me?" she said gently, running a finger down the metal back in a motherly gesture. "It's alright; they won't take you from me. Go ahead sweetie."

James scuttled along to Cassandra and looked up at her. Cassandra looked shifty for a moment, but the spider moved on to the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Mean.

Lady Cassandra's voice was accusatory, "The Adherents of the Repeated Mean. J'accuse!"

"That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." The Adherents of the Repeated Mean tried to strike him, but he caught its arm and ripped it off. "A Repeated Mean is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." He ripped a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Mean crumpled into a bundle of black cloaks.

Everyone gasped while Cassandra rolled her eyes.

The Doctor kept calm as he continued, "Remote controlled droids. Nice little cover for the _real_ troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" He nudged the spider gently with his foot. "Go home."

The spider ambled back over to Cassandra. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed."

James, having done his duty, immediately scooted back over to where Astrid was still kneeling. She held out her hand so that James could climb on and she deposited him back onto her shoulder.

She looked back up to see the Doctor and Cassandra facing off. _The Ninth Doctor is very good with mocking the bad guys. _"What are you going to do, moisturize me?"

"With acid. Oh, too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just as pretty face."

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

"Five billion years and it still comes down to money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not that freaky little kid of yours." Astrid glared hotly at Cassandra for that comment.

The Moxx of Balhoon finally decided to chip in, "Arrest her!"

Cassandra was less than impressed. "Oh, shut it, pixie. I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in 3 minutes."

_Cassandra is as confident as she is stupid._ "And here it comes. You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn.'"

Jabe was calm in the face of death and that made Astrid like her just a bit, even with the insult from before. "Then you'll burn with us."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but... I'm such a naughty thing. Spiders - activate."

There were a series of explosions all around the ship as James suddenly became stiff. "Jimmy?"

The Doctor spun to watch the spider on Astrid's shoulder shake and its optic glow red hot.

James, the little robot spider, really liked his new mistress. She was sweet, kind, and willing to protect him even at the cost to herself. But in his base programming was the order to obey his first mistress. The order to activate his base programming was in direct violation to his new wishes. He wanted to stay with his new mistress, and obeying his old programming would harm his new mistress. The two sets of programming could not co-exist. With a small sad chirp, the little robot gave a hiccup of smoke from his body and deactivated himself.

"Jimmy?" Astrid was frantic with worry. "Jimmy!"

Jabe laid a sympathetic arm over the girl's shoulders and squeezed. Astrid began to cry soundlessly, only a few tears leaking out.

Cassandra didn't even think the little show of bravery from one spider was enough to warrant a pause in her speech. "Force field's gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggled. "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings..." Then she and her bodyguards blinked out of existence, presumably with the aid of a teleporter.

The computer came over the PA system again. "Heat levels rising."

The Moxx of Balhoon felt badly for the dark girl that had spoken so quietly and shyly to him before, but all of their lives were in danger and that came first. "Reset the computer!"

Jabe gave a sympathetic look at the girl, but let her go to focus once more on the matter at hand. She could comfort the brunette later, after it was assured that everyone would survive the occasion. "Only the Steward would know how."

The Doctor was now angry. "No. We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, Astrid, come on." The three of them leave the room as the Doctor calls out behind him, "You lot - just chill!"

"Earth Death in 2 minutes. Earth Death in 2 minutes."

Jabe and the Doctor ran back through the maintenance corridor, Astrid right behind.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical."

The Doctor, Jabe, and Astrid reached the ventilation chamber. A giant room in the interior of the ship with huge ventilation fans, blades higher and wider than they were tall.

The Doctor was sarcastic as he spotted the reset lever on the far wall. "Oh. And guess where the switch is." Between the lever and them were three fans going reasonably fast.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

The Doctor pulled a lever down that was beside them, grunting once with the effort, and the fans slowed down.

"External temperature - 5 thousand degrees."

As soon as the Doctor let go of the lever, the fans sped up again. As the Doctor looked hopelessly at the fans, Jabe pulled the lever down again and held it there.

"You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place." The Doctor looked at her, such an expression on his face. Astrid could only barely remember what had happened between them, it had been so long since she had seen the episode, but she could see their faces. Something had happened, something significant. And it hurt her heart to see that expression on his face.

Astrid took a deep breath and shoved Jabe gently to the side. "Go. It won't kill me." Jabe nodded and turned, but Astrid called to her, "Jabe? Thank you…for caring about Jimmy." The tree-woman nodded again and left the room. Astrid gave a glare at the Doctor. "Get going Time Lord. This lever is heavy." _Oops. I called him a Time Lord. Has he told Rose yet that he's Gallifreyan? How in the heck am I supposed to remember stuff that I saw years ago? _

He grins at her and ran back to the fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising." _Yes, thank you. I know I'm going to probably get third degree burns. Yes, I know this is a stupid idea. Thank you for reminding me. Now shut the hell up! _"Heat levels - hazardous. Heat levels - hazardous." _Cheeky computer._

She watched as the Doctor dodged the first fan and ran underneath it. He looked anxiously up at the next one.

"Shields malfunctioning. Shields malfunctioning."

The Doctor stood before the second fan. He looked back at Astrid who was starting to sweat and breathe heavily. _Good thing I grew up in the South. I can actually take this kind of heat. Not for long, but I can. Doctor, hurry the hell up!_

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels - critical."

The Doctor dodged under the second fan_. About bloody time! One to go. Come on Astrid, breathe. Hold it together._

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels - rising."

As the Doctor stood before the third fan, Astrid started to shake slightly. She whimpers. "Hurry up!" The Doctor looks back, shocked but he gives a sharp nod. _So the first time I get heat stroke will be five billion years after I thought I would, in a space station orbiting Earth while the planet is burnt to a crisp. At least it's memorable. _She tried to breathe through her nose so that she would lose less moisture, but the air didn't seem to be enough.

As a child of the South, she knew the warning signs of heat stroke. And the fact that her body quit producing sweat was a huge one. Moments later, darkness took her vision and she fell to the floor.

* * *

><p>Astrid opened her blue eyes to see the Doctor on one side and Rose on the other. The architecture of the walls and pillars put her back in the TARDIS, so she was in a medical bay. She smiled at them both gently. "Hello. Why such the long faces?" She coughed and Rose held up a glass of water for her to drink. "Thanks." She felt the tug of an IV and saw that glowing blue liquid was being pumped into her body. <em>Whatever works.<em>

Rose nodded and then reached out quickly to hug her. Astrid grinned and hugged her back, squeezing hard to assure her best friend that she was indeed all right. "How are you feeling?"

"It's heat stroke, Rose. I'll be good as new in a few days." Astrid smiled up at Rose before turning the grin to the Doctor.

His face was a mask of concern, pain, and surprisingly guilt. "Doctor, it's not your fault. I volunteered. It's alright." She smiled at him, but though he smiled back, it didn't reach his eyes. Astrid sighed heavily before nodding.

The Doctor pulled up a chair that had been in the corner of the medical bay of the TARDIS. "Did she die? Jabe?" Astrid breathed out, relieved, at the shake of his head. "Cassandra?" He nodded. "Damn. I wanted to deck her." He finally let out a bark of laughter and she knew he would be fine, given time. They all would.

* * *

><p><em>Well, what do you think? Reviews are love!<br>PS-'Astrid' is Greek for 'star'._


	4. Nightmares and Explanations

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 4: Nightmares and Explanations**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters, plotlines, etc. are not mine. No matter how much I wish that I was Russell T. Davies illegitimate offspring. *sigh*

However, Astrid is mine in every way, shape, and form. *glomps* No takies!

Also, I am an American…which means my British colloquialisms come from Doctor Who and Torchwood. So forgive me please if I mess up.

I now have a lovely beta! She is peaceloverhealer101, and writes "A Love Through Time" in the DW archives. Go check it out, she is wondermous! Unfortunately, she is currently on vacation, so all mistakes are mine.

_Astrid's thoughts/dreams_

* * *

><p>Astrid was confined to bed rest for the next twenty hours or so until the glowing blue liquid could finish its work. Urged by her, the Doctor and Rose went on another trip without her, this time into the past. She had grinned at them both and commented, "Just don't forget about me, or I'll have to come find you!"<p>

Rose hugged her friend fiercely before handing Astrid her purse. "Here you go, keep you company. You have a book in there, yeah?" At Astrid's nod, she gave another hug and then disappeared out of the medical bay.

The Doctor watched the brunette with an interesting expression she wasn't quite able to decipher. "Where did you get that bag?" He asked softly without any emotion.

Astrid paled. Even though she had fitted the handle to be more accommodating as a purse, it was the same bag that the Master had given her over a year ago. A Time Lord bag that was bigger on the inside. She gave a sigh, "I forgot about the bag. Of all the things I thought would give me away, it never crossed my mind." Her eyes begged him to understand, to forgive her.

She opened her mouth to begin her tale when they heard Rose's voice call out, "Doctor! You coming?"

Astrid sighed again—_saved by the Rose—_and gave him a blank look, "You'd better go." She held up the arm attatched to the IV. "I'm not going anywhere. You can interrogate me after."

He gave a sharp nod and disappeared out the door.

She heard the whoosh of the TARDIS flying and the ding as they landed. A few shuffle noises, laughter, the squeak of the door, and then silence except for the faint humming the TARDIS made constantly.

Astrid drew up her legs to hug them tightly and laid her head on her knees. _What if he doesn't believe me? How do I convince him? What if the Master comes back? Oh god, I don't know what to do! Help me…someone, please…I don't know what to do…_She held the bag close to her chest, rolled over on her side, and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

><p>[dream sequence]<p>

_Gwyneth and Sneed had successfully loaded the body of an old woman into the back of the hearse when Rose caught up with them. _

"_What're you doing?" Rose demanded._

"_Oh, it's such a tragedy, miss. Don't worry yourself, me and the master will deal with it." Gwyneth tried to stop Rose from seeing inside the hearse, but the blond was too stubborn and pushed past. "The fact is, this poor lady's been taken with the brain fever and we have to get her to the infirmary."_

_Rose pushed Gwyneth aside and felt the old woman's forehead. "She's cold…she's dead! My God, what did you do to her?"_

_Sneed approached Rose silently from behind and clamped a tissue full of a drug, probably chloroform, to her mouth. She struggled for a few seconds and then went limp._

[flash]

_The key turned in the Morgue of Sneed and Company, and they all troupe in, led by the Doctor. Bodies were covered in white sheets next to all but one wall that had an arch._

"_The thing is, Doctor - the Gelth don't succeed. 'Cause I know they don't. I know for a fact there weren't corpses walking around in 1869." Rose tried to be smart, but she knew she wasn't the expert on the subject of time and the Doctor quickly corrected her._

"_Time's in flux. It's changing every second. Your cozy little world could be rewritten like that." He snapped his fingers. "Nothing is safe. Remember that. Nothing." _

[flash]

_Gwyneth positioned herself beneath the arch and Rose rushed to her side. "You don't have to do this."_

_Gwyneth placed her hands on Rose's cheeks. "My angels" Rose staggered back from the servant girl. _

_The Gelth were insistent, demanding, but sounded so sweet and patient at the same time. "Establish the bridge, reach out of the void, let us through!" Gwyneth called to them gently, like a mother or sweet older sister. "Bridgehead establishing. It is begun! The bridge is made!"_

_Gwyneth's mouth opened and the Gelth poured out of it. _

"No! Gwyneth, don't!" Astrid cried out in horror as she watched, helpless to do anything, not realizing it was a dream. A dream of something she had watched years ago.

_Suddenly, the Gelth leader hovering above and behind Gwyneth becomes demonic, wreathed in flames. The gas turns from blue to red. "__The Gelth will come through in force."_

_Charles Dickens demanded an answer, "You said that you were _few_ in number!"_

_The leader of the Gelth sneered, "__A few billion. And all of us in need of corpses."_

_The bodies around the group began to rise. _

[flash]

_The corpses advance on the Doctor and Rose._ _The Doctor looks behind him, spots the dungeon door, pushed Rose in there with him and slammed it shut again so they are both locked in the small room, far enough that the corpses couldn't reach them, but with nowhere to go._

_Charles Dickens was very apologetic as he stammered, "Doctor, I can't…I-I'm sorry. This new world…It's too much for me! I'm so…" He didn't get to finish as he __jumped and ran from the Morgue as one of the Gelth screeches and swooped at him. The corpses are clambering to get in the dungeon, to reach the Doctor and Rose to make new host bodies to inhabit._

_The Gelth leader demanded, "__Give yourself to glory. Sacrifice your lives for the Gelth."_

_The Doctor glared, "__I trusted you. I pitied you!"_

"_We don't want your pity! We want this world and all its flesh."_

_The Gelth in the corpses were rattling the barred door._

_The Doctor snarled right back at them. "__Not while I'm alive."_

"_Then live no more."_

"No…Please, no…"

[flash]

_The Doctor and Rose were free to come out of the dungeon as the Gelth are drawn out of the corpses and into the air by the innovation of Charles Dickens. Their blue forms hover and fly in the air around Gwyneth._

_The Doctor yelled to the servant as he crossed the room. "__Gwyneth! Send them back! They lied, they're not angels."_

_Gwyneth seemed to droop down as she asked, "__Liars?"_

_He spoke in earnest as he moved to be in front of her. "Look at me. If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you the strength. Now send them back!"_

_Rose behind him began to choke on all the gas being in the air of the morgue. "Can't breathe."_

"_Charles, get her out." __Dickens grabbed Rose's arm, but she shook him off. The Doctor stayed, trying to convince Gwyneth. "__Remember that world you saw? Rose's world? All those people - none of it will exist unless you send them back through the rift."_

_Gwyneth was firm as she spoke. "__I _can't_ send them back. But I can hold them. Hold them in this place, hold them here. Get out." __Her hand went to her apron pocket and she took out a box of matches. Rose rushed forwards._

"_You can't!" The Doctor grabbed Roses' shoulders and forcefully handed her over to Charles. _

"_Rose, get out, go now. I won't leave her while she's still in danger. Now go!"_

"Astrid, wake up."

_Dickens and Rose left the Morgue. The Doctor held his hand out for the matches. "Leave that to me." But Gwyneth didn't respond. He reached out and felt for a pulse, but she had already died at least five minutes before. There was nothing he could do._

"Astrid."

"_I'm sorry. Thank you." The Doctor pressed a kiss to the servant girl's forehead and ran as quickly as he could out of the morgue. _

_Gwyneth struck the match and the world burned._

"Astrid!"

[end dream sequence]

* * *

><p>"Astrid!" The Doctor shook the brunette's shoulders harshly, trying to wake her from the nightmare she was caught in. He'd been trying for the last five minutes. "Wake up!"<p>

She bolted awake in an instant, looked wildly around in search of the monsters from her nightmares, saw him, and began crying. He pulled her into his chest and made soothing noises. He really didn't like domestics, but he'd make an exception for her. Just this once.

It took a while, but she quieted down. "Now, would you like to tell me what that was all about? Or how you got that bag?"

Her blue eyes were windows into her soul, begging him once again for understanding. For forgiveness. She slowly nodded and drew out of his arms. Searching around, she found the bag in question, caught it with one hand, reaching in with the other, and pulled out The Book. "Read the first entry."

The Doctor frowned at her actions but opened up to the very first page. The handwriting was easily legible but what it said was impossible.

'Rose.

'The first day the Doc meets Rose, he blows up her job at Heinrik's clothing store. They meet again when he tracks a plastic hand to her apartment. Next, at a pizza restraint where her boyfriend Mickey has been copied by the Nestene Consciousness to find out more of what the Doc knows. Doc pulls off Mickey's head and both run to the TARDIS out back.

' "The assembled lords of Ghengis Khan couldn't get through that door, and believe me they've tried." Doc says.

'Find the Nestene under the London Eye down a manhole. Doc gets captured, antiplastic taken away. Rose swoops in "Got no A levels, no job, no future. Tell you what I have got…under 7s gymnastics team. I've got the bronze." And knocks antiplastic into Nestene. Lots of explosions. They run (with Mickey) to TARDIS and escape.

'Doc offers to take Rose with him, doesn't like Mickey. Rose kisses Mickey and runs after Doc.'

The Doctor looks up in disbelief. "You haven't written in this since you've been here, have you?"

She slowly shook her head, leaning back on the pillows. "I wrote that book the first weekend I got here. Read the next entry." She gave him a stern look, so much so that he nodded and went back to reading.

'End of the World.

'Doc tries to impress Rose by going really far into future. Go to Platform One that observes the day the sun expands to watch the death of the Earth. They join the festivities by means of psychic paper. Metal eggs hold robots that will take over the platform. Steward dies. Rose almost dies because of decending sunshield. Lady Cassandra at fault. Jabe dies holding lever down for Doc to restart computer.'

The Doctor glanced upward. "This isn't what happened. Not all of it."

She was just looking at him steadily. "And the next, but no further."

'Unquiet Dead.

'Rift opens to let through Gelth. Gaseous beings that want to inhabit corpses. Have no problem with creating the corpses. Gwyneth, servant girl to Sneed, establishes bridge to let them through. Dies under arch. Kills all Gelth and closes the Rift by lighting a match once the building is full of gas.'

"Why is this entry so short?" The Doctor says quietly, shutting the book. It had happened barely thirty minutes ago. He had just gotten back. The girl had no time to write such an entry, especially since she hadn't been there. Almost the whole book was filled with entries and his mind whirled with the implications of such a small and important journal.

Astrid sighed and drank from a glass of water at her bedside before answering. "I didn't like that episode. I never watched it much. Not as many details to remember."

He frowned in confusion. "'Watched it'? What do you mean?"

Astrid drew a deep breath. She was silent for long minutes "Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a little girl. She was a strange child and her peers treated her harshly. So she lived in books, reading everything she could get her hands on. When she got older, she loved movies and television series. All things that dealt with science fiction and fantasy. One of her favorite series was by the BBC, called…" she took a breath to steady herself, watching his face. "…Doctor Who. She watched her favorite episodes over and over and followed the series for years."

His face had gone from shock to incredulous to blank. Now he just listened.

"Years go by. Doctor Who never gets old to her and she keeps watching it faithfully. She grows up, goes to college. But she's still strange and weird and never gets many friends. Her best friends are her parents. She makes plans to go to grad school and has only one semester left before graduation." Astrid begins to cry silently, her tears making tracks down her cheeks.

"One day, she hears the noise of the TARDIS landing. She had heard it so many times before on the show. She thinks her father is playing a trick on her, but when she looks around she doesn't see anyone. She goes hunting for the source of the noise and finds it behind the trailer on their property. But the man that comes out—" She stopped talking, not sure whether she should keep going. The Master was his future, and Jack had told her not to tell him—or anyone—about their personal futures. She decided to keep going, but to just skip who it was that showed up.

"He kidnaps her. She fights him, because he said enough for her to know that they were crossing dimensions and she'd never get to come back. When she finally regains consciousness, he has already left, having given her a bag that's bigger on the inside full of money, clothes, and identification so that she can get a job. And she waited for the Doctor to come, finding Rose first." Astrid finished looking down at her clasped hands, waiting for his reaction. For his betrayal and rejection.

The Doctor looks at the brunette laying in his medical bay, trying to make sense of all of what she had said. Finally, he had to ask just one question. "What did the man tell you?"

Her voice was quiet. "That the events I had watched didn't occur the way they should have because someone was missing that should have been there. He worked with the…and they figured out where to find this…me. Said that if I got it wrong again, he'd come back." Her voice broke in her fear.

Astrid looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks again. "I tried to change it, but if I changed the beginning, I wouldn't be able to meet you. And then with Platform One…" Her voice failed her for a few moments. "But I know I can change things, they're still changing. Jack said that Jimmy would be with me for a long time, and then he died. Please don't send me away. I can change things, I can. Please…" Her voice broke and her body shook with the force of her silent sobs.

The Doctor couldn't stand it any longer, he reached out and pulled her into his arms and began to whisper soothing things, nonsense sounds of comfort, into her ears. The bravery she had shone was amazing, fantastic, brilliant. Though she was obviously afraid, terrified even, she had come anyway. She had kept it hidden away from Rose and himself for as long as she could to spare them the pain of having to know.

He understood her dilemma, oh did he. He could feel the universe spinning around him and under him. He could see all that could be, all that should not. He saw all of time as a ball of string that could be twisted into any shape imaginable and even more that couldn't be imagined no matter how much one tried. He knew the burden of knowing the future. He had spent a lifetime running from it. Even a Time Lord could be afraid of such knowledge, and it was a part of their very being. For a human to do it—and for such a long time since Rose had said earlier that she had known Astrid for at least a year—it was incredible.

Astrid finally stopped crying, nestled into his chest was comforting and felt right. She looked up at him through her eyelashes because of the angle. "So what do we do now?"

"I think we should go home." Rose said quietly, startling both of them. They looked her, Astrid in horror and the Doctor expressionlessly. Rose continued unheeded, "We should both pack a bag with changes of clothes and things, I need to check with Mum, and I bet Julian would be really happy to see you." Rose could see the ache she had created in Astrid's eyes and knew the brunette thought she was rejecting her. "Then we can meet back up with the Doctor and go on another trip. It's your turn to choose where to go, Astrid."

Astrid's face lit up with a beautiful smile as the Doctor grinned. "Fantastic!"

Everything was going to be alright.

* * *

><p><em>No one has reviewed since Chapter 1…starting to think you guys don't like it. Please tell me why and I'll see if it's fixable. Reviews are love!<em>


	5. Aliens of London

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 5: Aliens of London**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Doctor Who and all associated characters, plotlines, etc. are not mine. No matter how much I wish that I was Russell T Davies illegitimate offspring. *sigh* However, Astrid is mine in every way, shape, and form. *glomps* No takies!

Also, I am an American…which means my British colloquialisms come from Doctor Who and Torchwood. So forgive me please if I mess up.

Unfortunately, my beta is currently on vacation, so all mistakes are mine.

_Astrid's thoughts_

* * *

><p>The Powell Estate was situated both parallel and perpendicular to the apartmentflat buildings around it. It was a pretty cream color, had six stories, and happened to be the home of the companions to an alien being.

In the alley directly across from the Powell Estate, a grinding noise coupled with a whooshing sound echoed slightly as a blue Police Box materialized. A blond and two brunettes exited the two-foot square box, two females and one male. The two girls were the companions, and were here to check on their families and pack proper bags before going back into the universe.

Astrid turned around and reiterated, "Only twelve hours, right? I won't have Julian too worried because you can't drive." Julian was her golden stray dog that she had kept when she first came to this dimension, and he was her first true friend. If he was hurt or harmed by her traveling…_well, I'll just have to find a way to sneak him on board the TARDIS then, won't I?_

The Doctor was half indignant, but Rose laughed softly and he couldn't help but join in. They had gone on a couple more adventures since the major/minor breakdown of Astrid's—of which they didn't really talk about, but Rose had seemed closer to her friend than ever before and the Doctor, though he _definitely_ didn't do 'domestics', was patient and sometimes gave her looks of intense understanding when he didn't think she was looking—and the 'driving' of the Doctor's was always interesting. Between being tossed around regularly and once arriving nine years after what they had shot for, it was a very valid question.

Rose moved off, Astrid by her side since she only lived a few doors down. "Oooh! Right, We won't be long, I'm just gonna see my mum."

The Doctor was curious, "What're you going to tell her?"

The blond looked back at him with a small look at him that almost said as much as her mouth, "I don't know! I've been to the year 5 billion... and only been gone, what, 12 hours?" She raised an eyebrow at him as he gave a small snort of laughter. "No, I'll just tell her I've spent the night at Shareens. See you later!" She waved at him, linked arms with Astrid, and both walked off together.

It was Astrid's turn to look back, "Don't you disappear."

The Doctor gave her a look and it said a lot more than he could. The expression was a cross between 'as if I would' and 'why would I, without you'. After The Breakdown, as Astrid was beginning to call it in her mind, he wouldn't go anywhere out of the TARDIS without both her and Rose at his side. _I'm not sure if he is scared that I'll disappear, or if he just wants to be sure to have my reactions. _

After the Charles Dickens incident, she didn't have any input yet. Apparently, there were a lot more adventures than ever made it onscreen. Which makes sense if you think about it, but she just never had. But the Doctor always looked for recognition in her face and a tensing in her body language. A clue that events were evident. He had noticed on the last couple trips that she was more at ease, less afraid, and just generally more free to be herself. She wasn't worrying about changing the future or preventing deaths. Of course, it might be because she didn't have anything left to hide—_that he knows of, but only Rose knows those stories and I trust her not to say anything—_but either way, he was watching and waiting.

The Book had been shelved in the TARDIS library under a force field that only the TARDIS herself could bring down. The ship had put up the field as soon as Astrid's hand had come off the binding. _She knows how much temptation it is to him and wants to protect him from himself. I hope I last until 'The Doctor's Wife'…I watched that episode so many times, seeing it in real life would be wonderful. I wonder if we could go early. Maybe we could save the Corsair? Then the Doctor would have another Time Lord and he wouldn't have to be the last anymore._

Astrid grins at his expression, all of this information running through her brain having only taken a few milliseconds of time, and walks off. She and Rose take the stairs two at a time, playfully racing each other as they couldn't stop grinning.

Rose waved at her friend, both digging out their keys. Rose going to her and Jackie's flat while Astrid went down a couple doors to her own. "I'll meet you in your place in a little bit. Just want to check on Julian and pack a bag."

Rose nodded, "Yeah alright." She opened her door and disappeared into her flat.

The brunette smiled and went into her own apartment. When she wasn't immediately bowled over by her dog, she frowned in confusion. Every time, without fail, she came through her door, Julian was on her with doggy kisses. Why wasn't he this time? Had something happened to him? _Oh god, if he's hurt I'll never forgive myself._

She came down the hallway, checking every nook and cranny. But when she got to the living room, she froze. All her furniture had come with the flat, it was part of the reason she got the apartment in the first place since she had none, and she filled it slowly with clothes, dishes, etc. But there was none of her stuff there now. It was completely different.

Then a pad of feet, she turned hoping to see Julian, but got a man she had never seen before coming out of the bathroom. Standing with a white towel around his head and nothing else. Astrid stared at him with huge eyes as her brain flashed back to the day when she was sixteen and had accidently walked in on her father taking a shower.

Neither she nor the man moved or spoke for several long minutes. Finally, Astrid spoke quietly, "When did you move in here?"

"Eight months ago." His voice was a deep bass.

The Doctor came running through the flat door. He sees the situation and grabs her arm. "It's not twelve hours, it's twelve months." He steers her back away from the nude man and out the door, down to Rose's apartment as he explains. "You've been gone a whole year." He laughed apologetically. "Sorry."

* * *

><p>Astrid sat beside Rose in the Tyler flat in their living room on the couch as Jackie ranted. Both she and Rose were in similar positions of defense, knees up to their chest and arms around them. Astrid didn't say anything; all she could think about was Julian, how scared he must have been. Her mind was rather blank otherwise.<p>

Jackie had apparently been putting up 'Have you seen?' fliers for the two of them for ages. She had kept Astrid's things—most of the personal stuff anyway, the general went to a thrift shop—but Julian had run away almost immediately after the girls had 'disappeared'. No one had seen him since.

A policeman had arrived to take statements or whatever, but he just listened mostly as he sat in an armchair. The Doctor stood by the couch where the girls were sitting, but he was watching Jackie mostly. The woman didn't stop talking or pacing. She was understandably furious. "The hours I've sat here. Days and weeks and months all on my own. I thought you were dead. And where were you? Travelling. What the hell does that mean? Travelling? That's no sort of answer."

Jackie looked at the policeman as she just kept going, not even pausing for a response. "You ask her. She won't tell me! That's all she says. Travelling."

Rose finally cut in, "That's what I was doing."

Jackie pointed behind her in the direction of the bedrooms. "When your passport's still in the drawer? It's just one lie after another!"

Astrid let Rose 'handle' her mother. Astrid had never gotten the hang of dealing with Jackie, she just talked too much. She only was able to make Jackie back down once, and that had been because the woman was about to put ammonia and bleach in the same container. That had led to a chemistry lesson/rant from the brunette regarding household cleaning products. Jackie didn't speak to her for a week after that.

"I meant to phone, I really did, I just…forgot."

"What, for a year? You forgot for a year? I'll believe that from Astrid, but not you! And I am left sitting here? I just don't believe you. Why won't you tell me where you've been?" Jackie demanded of her daughter and sorta-adopted daughter. The brunette wouldn't return her gaze, but Rose was just as quiet. _What can we say, 'Yeah, we've been to the year five-billion, met Charles Dickens, saw a super nova, and caught snowflakes on a different planet. Sorry we forgot to call, but it was too exciting.' Yup. That will go over SO well._

The Doctor took this moment to speak up, moving nervously from side to side, as he tried to explain using as much truth as possible without giving anything relevant away. "Actually, it's my fault. I sort of er, employed Rose and Astrid as my companions."

The yellow coated policeman quirked an eyebrow at the apparent sisters before asking calmly, "When you say 'companion', is this a sexual relationship?"

Astrid laid her head on her knees as she shook with laughter as the Doctor and Rose both vehemently denied the semi-accusation. _Of all the things to ask, he's worried about a threesome!_

Jackie advanced on the Doctor fully and started right back, now going at him full force. "Then what is it? Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smiles, and the next thing I know, they vanish off the face of the earth! How old are you then? 40? 45? What, you find them on the Internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a doctor?

He was quick to assure her, "I AM a doctor!"

Jackie was beyond furious. "Prove it! Stitch this, mate." She slapped him on the face hard enough that he cried out in shock and pain and had to take a step back from the force.

Rose rolled her eyes as Astrid shook with silent laughter. Jackie was definitely one way to get her mind off Julian.

* * *

><p>They were on the roof of the Powell Estate, Rose, Astrid, and the Doctor. Rose and Astrid were sitting on the wall surrounding the more sensitive systems and the Doctor was leaning against it between the two of them. Rose was looking off into space to the right, Astrid straight ahead, and the Doctor to the left. The blond was quiet for a few minutes before she spoke. "I can't tell her. I can't even <em>begin...<em> she's never gonna forgive me." She looked over at the Doctor in askance. "And I missed a year? Was it good?"

"Middling." The Doctor frowned against the sunlight.

She looked away again. "You're so useless."

He gave her a glance and frowned, "Well, if it's this much trouble, are you gonna stay here now?"

Her voice was frank, but a little sad. "I dunno. I can't do that to her again, though."

"Well, she's not coming with us."

Rose and Astrid shared a look over the Doctor's head before they burst out laughing. The Doctor joined in. It was nice little moment to break the tension.

Astrid shook her head vigorously, "No chance. She slapped you!"

The Doctor watched Astrid's face as he commented, touching his chest in time with his words. "I don't do families. 900 years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."

Rose couldn't stop grinning. "Your face."

He was incredulous as he looked to Rose. "It hurt!" He rubbed his cheek while his face spoke of how offended he was as she continued.

"You're so gay!"

Rose suddenly turned back to him, the teasing in her tone lost. "When you say 900 years..."

Astrid spoke for him this time. "He's 900 years old, Rose. He's been travelling for…" She had to pause to think about it. She made a show of counting on her fingers. "…700 years. He was about 200 when he stole the TARDIS."

"I borrowed it!" But he was watching her face, surprised to see the teasing in her eyes. She finished the quote in her mind, '_Borrowing implies eventually returned that which was taken. What makes you think I'd ever give YOU back.'_ She really loved that episode.

"My mum was right. That is one hell of an age gap." Rose was a bit slow to comprehend how big a difference that really was, when in actuality, the Doctor was about 30-ish in human terms by the average age of his people.

Astrid watched as Rose hopped off of the wall and kept talking while she looked at the surrounding buildings. "Every conversation with you just goes mental. There's no one else I can talk to. I've seen all that stuff up there, the size of it, and I can't say a word. Aliens and spaceships and things, and we're the only people on planet earth who know they exist. And Astrid knows more, but she can't say either."

Right on cue, a spacecraft narrowly missed their heads as it fell out of the sky and they all have to duck down just in case. It was shaped a bit like a speed boat with fins out to the sides. But it was billowing black smoke and its flight path was chaotic at best. They were in a perfect position to watch as it careen off into the middle of London and hit Big Ben, causing the national monument to chime once in a death knell. The ship came to a stop with a great splash in the Thames River.

Rose and the Doctor got to their feet. The Doctor was grinning hugely as he laughed in delight. Rose was just flabbergasted as she said, "Oh, that's just not fair."

Astrid was on her feet, but her eyes were serious as she watched the ship fly. "Crap." Her English accent had completely vanished with that one spoken word. It was such a shock because after living in London for a year and being with the Doctor and watching Doctor Who and Torchwood, she had gotten really good at her accent to the point it was hardly noticeable. She rarely lost it since she was surrounded constantly by English accents it had become second nature. This was the first time the Doctor had heard her childhood accent from the Southern United States come through and it made him turn around instantly in shock.

The Doctor spun on the spot to see her face lit up with recognition. She met his eyes and her expression communicated easily that this was an occasion when she knew what would happen. The sorrow in her eyes said that people would die, possibly had already died, and the determination screamed that she would do everything she could to prevent as much as possible.

He gave a mental sigh since he knew eventually she would know things again, but shoved it to the side. He forced a grin, laughed softly, grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her off to the side. He grabbed Astrid's hand when he got close enough and then they were running. Right into the heart of London to get the best look possible.

* * *

><p>It is complete mayhem on the bumper to bumper in every direction as far as you could see, people in and around their cars just milling about. Soldiers in uniforms of the army had blocked off the streets.<p>

Rose observed the obvious, "We're miles from the center. The city must be grid locked. The whole of London must be closing down."

The Doctor, of course, was ecstatic. His grin hadn't left and he was laughing softly. "I know, I can't BELIEVE I'm here to see this! This is fantastic!" He gestured all around at the street.

Rose looked over, frowning. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

_Yes, I did…I just had hoped I'd have more time. _He put his arms behind his back. "Nope!"

"Do you recognize the ship?"

_Yup. _"Nope!"

"Do you know why it crashed?"

_Yup. _"Nope!" He still couldn't lose his grin.

"Oh, I'm so glad I've got you!"

"I bet you are! This is what I travel for, Rose! To see history happening right in front of us." He gestured again.

"Well, let's go and see it! Never mind the traffic, we've got the TARDIS!"

Astrid spoke up quietly from her position on the other side of the Doctor. "No. One spaceship is enough for London right now. Since the Chameleon Circuit is broken, it stays a blue box everywhere we go. He's been noticed. The people watching that spaceship will recognize his ship too. Very bad idea."

"So, history's happening and we're stuck here." Rose was very disgruntled and grouchy at her friend's pronouncement. Then, "What's a Chameleon Circuit?"

"It's the thingy that disguises his ship. It broke in the 1950s. Back then, there were Police Box's everywhere, so it really was a good disguise. Not so much anymore." Astrid grinned at the Doctor, who was looking very indignant over the dare idea that his ship wasn't in top condition.

Rose got an idea then and looked at her two companions. "We could always do what everybody else does." The Doctor gives her a questioning look so she continues. "We could watch it on TV." The Doctor has such a look on his face. Like it is an idea he never would have thought of.

Astrid couldn't help it. She laughed.

* * *

><p>"Astrid?" The brunette looked up at her friend from her position in the armchair. The three of them were in the Tyler living room again and the TV was on to the local news channel. The Doctor was intently watching when Rose suddenly asked. "I know you recognized the ship. Can you tell us anything?"<p>

"Now don't bug her, Rose. She's here to help change things, but she can't change them too much or space and time will come undone. Watch the news."

Astrid gave Rose an apologetic look and the blond nodded understandingly.

BBC News 24 was going on in the background. "Big Ben destroyed as a UFO crash lands in Central London. Police reinforcements are drafted in from across the country to control wide-spread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hitchinson is at the scene. The police urge the public not to panic. There's a help line number on screen right now if you're worried about friends or family. The army are sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship. No one knows what they're going to find."

Jackie came into the living room and spoke to one of their neighbors, Marianna. She handed a cup of tea to Rose and Astrid, completely ignoring all of them though. "I've got no choice! Either I make him welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing the two of them again." Marianna wasn't helping matters any as she spoke in admonishment to the two girls as well until both women's speeches turned into an incoherent babble.

"Oi! I'm trying to listen!" The Doctor glared at the two women peevishly over his shoulder.

The news narrator, having no clue of the angry conversation in one Tyler flat, continued with his dialogue. "... his current whereabouts. News is just coming in, we can go to Tom at the embankments."

They cut to a live reporter with a receding hairline, his face filling up most of the screen. "They've found a body."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"It's unconfirmed but I'm being told a body has been found in the wreckage. A body of non-terrestrial origins. It's being brought ashore." The camera focused onto the other side of the Thames to a group of people carrying a kind of pallet with a white sheet covering whatever—or whoever—was under it.

The Doctor was distracted from the screen again as Jackie came into the room with a bottle of wine and another cup of tea. Between one glance over his shoulder and the next, the room had gone from four occupants to eight. All the neighbors coming together to watch the news. Jackie, being herself, was more interested in gossip than history. "Oh, guess who asked me out - Billy Crewe!" The Doctor shook his head in despair for the poor woman before focusing once more on the TV.

"Unconfirmed reports say that the body _is_ of extra-terrestrial origin. An extraordinary event unfolding here live in Central London. The body is being transferred to a secure UNIT mortuary, whereabouts as yet unknown."

A small toddler had found the remote control and Astrid was forced to watch a stupid cook make a 'spaceship cake' as the Doctor wrestled with the child for control of the remote. Astrid was more interested in watching the exchange between them than the chef. He did eventually regain control and turned it back to BBC News 24, the toddler in his lap.

"We still don't know whether it's alive or dead. Whitehall is denying everything. But the body has been brought here, Albion Hospital, the roads closed off. It's the closest to the river." The reporter said as he stared intently into the camera.

The little boy hopped off the Doctor's lap and stood in front of the TV screen. The Doctor pointed violently sideways. "Go on!" The toddler wandered off. Astrid couldn't stop laughing at the image he presented. _He won a war against millions of Daleks and barely wins against a toddler!_

The reporter drew her attention back from the cute image of the Doctor with a kid. "I'm being told that... General Asquith is now entering the hospital. The building's evacuated. The patients have been moved out onto the streets. The police still won't confirm the presence of an alien body contained inside those walls..."

A different reporter came on the screen, 10 Downing Street in the background. "Mystery still surrounds their whereabouts of the prime minister. He's not been seen since the emergency began. The opposition are criticizing his lack of leadership. Hold on…" A fat man gets out of a black car. He was portly with black hair and a round face. He looked at all the cameras before entering the building. "Oh - that's Joseph Green, MP for Hartley Dale. He's chairman of the parliamentary commission on the monitoring of sugar standards in exported confectionary. With respect, hardly the most important person right now."

Astrid had always wondered, so she voiced it. "What does 'MP' mean? It comes up a lot in this…" She looks around at all the people eyeing her with disbelief. "What?"

Rose grinned at her friend. "You've lived in London a year and you don't know what 'MP' means?"

Astrid growled impressively before turning pleading eyes to her secret weapon. "Doctor! Rose's making fun of me!"

He looked back at the pair of them with a serious expression, but when he saw the two girls, he couldn't help but give a small smile. "Don't start a fight. It means 'member of parliament'."

Astrid frowned cutely. "Huh. No wonder I couldn't figure it out." The blond raised an eyebrow in question. "I'm an American. We have senators." Rose laughed.

* * *

><p>They had been watching television for hours. It was night now and the Powell Estate was lit up. Astrid watched the Doctor try to slip out the back and Rose follow him. She rolled her eyes and slipped out the front.<p>

Walking easily and at a jaunt leisure, she was waiting for the Doctor when he arrived, leaning up against the TARDIS's door. He was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "So, trouble?"

She brought up her hand and let it make an 'iffy' motion. "The next bit I hope to avoid is where you are going." She sighed. "I just hope that I can. He's not especially important, but all the same."

He gave her a serious expression. "You can't save everyone, Astrid. Don't try or you'll go mad. Do as much as you can, but you won't be able to save everyone all the time. Not even I can do that."

Astrid nodded her understanding and he pressed a TARDIS key on a chain into her hand. "Here. About time you had one." She smiled up at him and placed the chain around her neck. "Now. Let's go see that alien."

She laughed gaily as they both entered the TARDIS at a run, him grinning ear to ear. _He does tend to do a lot of smiling, doesn't he? Never really noticed before, it's just the way he is._ She watched as he smacked down a button, then a lever, and began to rotate a wheel. He grinned at her and his TARDIS as it started to move. She grabbed hold of the nearest banister just in case as they started to travel.

The console started to smoke and make sad whirring noises. Looking slightly put-out, the Doctor hit it a couple of times with a mallet after pressing more buttons on the opposite side of the console. Amazingly, this helps, and the Doctor kissed the hammer and gazed up at the console with a childish beam on his face. She openly laughed at him. "Maybe one day you can teach me how to fly and we won't have these kinds of problems."

He snorted in laughter before an odd look quickly came and went across his face, one she couldn't identify. "Alright. Fair enough." He pointed to a blue button. "Press that one."

"Really?" Her face lit up in a smile that made her eyes brighten as she jumped eagerly to follow his instructions on flying the TARDIS. She actually wasn't half bad, if a bit slow, as meticulous as she was to double check with him to be sure to hit the right thing.

They finally land and the Doctor is the first to go outside and finds himself in a incredibly small storeroom filled with junk. Junk in boxes on metal racks and junk on the walls in the form of posters. He looks a bit confused at the small space, but moves to one side so that she can come out before him and he closes the door behind.

Astrid goes to the door and watched by his side as he got out his sonic screwdriver. "I want you to know…even though I wrote all these down and watched them a lot, it has been a while since I've seen them. I don't remember everything, just the major stuff or things that made me laugh."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "It's more than I would have without you." He went back to trying to unlock the storeroom door by sonic and shushed the screwdriver's annoyingly loud buzz. She giggled.

The door finally unlocked and he put his sonic screwdriver away before opening it. What they find is about 20 soldiers wearing green uniforms and red hats in a break room, laughing and joking around. _Ooh, he's cute!_ The soldiers paused; the room fell silent for a couple seconds. Then they all leapt to their feet, grabbed their guns, and pointed them at the Doctor and Astrid, who was peeking out from behind his jacket. The guns had flashlights attached, so their faces lit up.

The Doctor just grinned at the lot of them, not quite sure what to say when they all heard a scream. The smile was wiped from his face as he ran for the door. "Defense plan delta! Come on, move, move!" Astrid was right on his heels, the soldiers on hers.

They run down a deserted corridor. Astrid and the Doctor catch sight of Dr. Toshiko Sato cowering on the floor first. Her voice is disbelieving. "It's alive!"

The Doctor turns to the men behind him. "Spread out. Tell the perimeter it's a lock down."

Astrid added in her two cents worth. "Catch it unharmed." She used the tone she had heard her ex-military father use when bossing around subordinates at his job. _Amazing what you learn from listening to your parents. I just hope the soldiers listen to me._

The Doctor doesn't question her, actually he gives the soldiers a look backing her up, but when he looks at her again, he sees something in her eyes and knows who she's trying to save. He runs to Dr. Sato's side and grabs her hands in his. The soldiers are still standing there, watching the odd man and woman. He glares and yells commandingly, "Do it!"

They ran off and started searching the building. The Doctor turns back to Dr. Sato. Blood was leaking out from under her hairline. "I swear it was dead." She whispered beseechingly.

The Doctor tried to keep the woman calm as he answered the unasked question, "Coma - shock - hibernation - anything. What does it look like?"

A clattering noise came from behind him and when he turns around, he sees Astrid kneeling down by a metal desk and holding out her hand. She was using the same voice that he had heard her use with James, the one that made her sound like a mother. "It's alright, sweetie. We won't hurt you. Come on out. It's okay."

The Doctor got onto his knees to join her when a small rattling sound was made. Going slowly so as not to frighten whatever she had seen, had known would be there, he crawled to her side and peered around behind the desk. That was how he saw the face of a pig in a flight suit, looking back at him. It snorted at him. Using his best 'I'm friendly' voice, the Doctor said, "Hello!" But he was too loud, too foreign.

The pig was terrified of the newcomer, it had just started to get used to the strange female. It squealed at such a high pitch that Astrid was wincing as it ran across and out of the room. The soldier standing outside the door brings his gun up in a ready position.

The Doctor called out; pointing to the soldier as he yelled, "Don't shoot!"

The pig ran along the corridor. The Doctor on its heels and Astrid on his. One of the soldiers from before points his gun at it and as it ran at him in terror, shoots before the Doctor or Astrid can stop him.

The Doctor ran through the clear plastic sheeting covering the corridor's entrance and demanded, "What did you do that for? It was scared!"

The soldier looks at him and to the pig in disbelief and incomprehension. The Doctor crouched by the pig and stroked its snout gently as it died. Astrid glared at the soldier as a single tear escaped her eyes. "It was terrified."

* * *

><p>Dr. Sato, the Doctor, and Astrid were standing around the pig's body in the morgue. This time, the creature really was dead. Astrid was silent by the Doctor's side, her mind going ninety miles an hour, trying to figure out if there was anything else she could have done to prevent the poor pig's death. It was an innocent in all this.<p>

Dr. Sato was talking in a relatively calm tone, "I just assumed that's what aliens look like. But you're saying it's an ordinary pig? From Earth?"

The Doctor explained further, his tone cold and hard with unrequited anger. He was really good at explaining things even at the most inopportune times. _Lots of practice._ "More like a mermaid. Victorian showmen used to draw the crowds by taking the skull of a cat and gluing it to a fish and calling it a mermaid. Now, someone's taken a pig, opened up its brain, stuck bits on... then they strapped it in that ship and made it dive bomb. It must've been terrified. They've taken this animal and turned it into a joke."

Dr. Sato kept talking, staring intently at the pig. The Doctor tapped Astrid on the shoulder and tilted his head in the direction of the exit. She nodded and the left while Dr. Sato was so focused. "So it's a fake. A pretend. Like the mermaid. But the technology augmenting its brain... it's like nothing on Earth. It's alien…" Her voice faded from Astrid's hearing range as they run to the TARDIS.

The Doctor directed her again on how to fly. Her heart warmed with his show of trust and faith, helping a bit with the tragedy of the needless death. It wasn't long before they were touching down in the exact alley where they had been before. "You are getting better." He observed with a grin.

Rose entered the TARDIS where the Doctor was looking at the computer screen, Astrid peering over his shoulder on his right. They heard the door squeak and the Doctor didn't glance at her as Rose moved to his left. "Alright, so I lied! I went and had a look, but the whole crash landing's a fake - I thought so, it's just too perfect. I mean, hitting Big Ben. Come on. So I thought let's go and have a look…"

Rose interrupted him with a soft, "My mum's here."

The door creaked open again and Jackie and Mickey enter. The Doctor looks around at the two newcomers and frowned. "Oh, that's JUSTwhat I need!" He pointed at Rose and almost poked her in the chest. "Don't you dare make this place domestic."

Mickey spoke up at this. "You ruined my life, Doctor." He pointed at the Doctor as the alien spun smoothly around to face the man. "They thought she was dead. I was a murder suspect because of you."

Jackie was by Mickey's side and for once hadn't said anything as she looked around in shock and bewilderment.

The Doctor looked at Rose with a frown. "See what I mean? Domestic!" He spun back to the computer screen, ignoring Mickey coming up behind him.

"I bet you don't even remember my name!" Mickey demanded.

The Doctor looks up and spins back. "Ricky."

"It's Mickey."

"No, it's Ricky."

"I think I know my own name."

"You THINKyou know your own name? How stupid are you?" Astrid tried desperately to laugh silently behind them, and was failing. _I always loved that scene. Seeing it in real life is even funnier!_

Jackie had apparently finally got the jist of what the TARDIS meant, and how the Doctor's manner of speaking indicated. She ran out of the TARDIS.

Rose called after her. "Mum, don't!" Since her mother didn't stop, she came back into the TARDIS, saying something that Astrid couldn't quite hear from her spot by the console. Rose came running back into the TARDIS and to the left side of the Doctor, Mickey peering over her shoulder. "That was a REALspaceship?"

The Doctor nodded absently, "Yep!"

"So, it's all a pack of lies? What is it then, are they invading?"

Mickey chimes in from behind them, his tone both curious and derisive. "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert."

The Doctor looked at him, his tone slightly impressed since this was the first intelligent thing that the boy had said since he had met him. "Good point!" He turned back to the computer screen. "So, what're they up to?"

He opened up a panel in the floor of the control room near the console, lay on his back with screwdriver in his mouth as he fiddled with wires above his head. Astrid knelt on the floor next to him, waiting to be of some use.

Mickey wandered over and peered curiously down at the Doctor. "So, what're you doing down there?"

The Doctor spoke with the sonic screwdriver in his mouth. "Ricky." Astrid giggled and leaned down to take it from between his teeth. He released it to be able to speak more clearly. "If I was to tell you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand? "

"I suppose not…" Mickey was interrupted from continuing as the Doctor spoke over him.

"Well, shut it, then."

Mickey rolled his eyes, irked.

Astrid kept the screwdriver in hand, not really caring about the slobber, as Mickey wandered off to go talk to Rose after giving the alien the evil eye. The Doctor gave her a smirk and went back to his finagling. It took a few more minutes, Astrid right beside to hand him the screwdriver when he needed it, but finally with a shower of sparks, the Doctor grinned at her in triumph. "Got it! Haha!"

Rose moved to the other side of the console to join them.

"Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours so we can follow the flight of the spaceship, here we go... hold on..." He gave the screen a good whack. "Come on!" As the graphic came up, he pointed out the circular path of the glowing dot. "That's the spaceship on its way to Earth... see? Except... hold on... see, the spaceship did a sling shot round the Earth before it landed." As he spoke, the picture disappeared before reappearing running backwards and the circular path began to be seen as a true perfect circle.

"What does that mean?"

"It means it came from Earth in the first place - it went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived. They've been here for a while. The question is, what have they been doing?" He checked with Rose's face to make sure she understood the implications.

The Doctor was switching the computer screen in its television mode from channel to channel when Mickey made himself annoying. "How many channels do you get?"

"You get sports channels?"

Astrid grimaced at such a Mickey-question. _The end of the world is going to occur in 24 hours, and he's worried about watching soccer!_ She missed the Doctor's answer, but focused back on him when he pointed to the screen. "Hold on. I know that bloke."

A reporter off screen spoke. "It is looking likely that the government is bringing in alien specialists - those people who have devoted their lives to studying outer space." A group of people in military uniforms, different from the soldiers she had seen before, were walking down what looked like a hospital corridor before they disappeared off screen to the left.

"UNIT! United Nations Intelligence Task force - good people."

Rose was simply curious, "How do you know them?"

Mickey was smug as he was the one with the answers this time. "'Cos he's worked for them. Yeah, don't think I sat on my backside for twelve months, Doctor. I read up on you. You look deep enough on the Internet... and in the history books, and there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead."

The Doctor smiled in derision. "That's nice. Good boy, Ricky."

"If you know them, why don't you go and help?"

Astrid spoke this time in the Doctor's defense. "It's been a long time since then, Rose. He's changed a lot since. They wouldn't recognize him."

The Doctor gave her a slight grin in thanks, but he could stand up for himself. "Besides, the world's on a knife-edge. There's aliens out there and fake aliens." He went around the console, pushing buttons and directing Astrid to pull and push certain levers. It was a slow process, she might learn everything she needed to know to fly the TARDIS in about ten years at this rate. "We want to keep this alien out of the mix. I'm going undercover... and eh, better keep the TARDIS out of sight." He moved to the wooden door. "Rickey! You've got a car - you can do some driving."

Mickey was incredulous and disbelieving that he would ever help the alien that had taken his girlfriend. "Where to!"

"The roads are clearing. Let's go and have a look at that spaceship." The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside to the sound of helicopters and a searchlight was immediately on them.

A person on a loudspeaker or some kind of megaphone called out to them. "Do no move! Step away from the box!"

Police cars, sirens blaring furiously, and soldiers surrounded them, pointing guns at them and preventing their escape, not that Rose, Astrid, or the Doctor moved at all—except the Doctor did move his body slightly to put more of himself between the soldiers and the girls. Mickey makes a run for it though, managing to sneak by the soldiers since they focused on the Doctor and his companions. Jackie runs out of the Powell Estate flats and tries to get to Rose but two soldiers catch and restrain her.

She calls out to her daughters, "No! Rose! Astrid!"

Astrid could barely see Mickey hiding behind some dustbins and trashcans. _Is there a difference between dustbins and trashcans? Or is it like biscuits and cookies?_ The Doctor, Astrid by his side, and Rose, by Astrid's side, are standing in the center looking slightly confused in the searchlight.

The man with the megaphone kept talking. "Raise your hands above your head! You are under arrest!"

The three of them obey when the Doctor opens his mouth. "Take me to your leader!" Rose rolled her eyes as Astrid groaned at the cliché while laughing softly.

"Do you have to provoke them?"

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Rose rode in the back while Astrid took the passenger seat as they were driven off. Police cars were in front and in back of the black car they were in, the driver mute. Astrid was subsequently bored, so she closed her eyes, leaned back, and made herself comfortable as she listened to the conversation going on in the backseat. She knew it by heart anyway, it had always made her laugh.<p>

"This is a bit posh. If I knew it was gonna be like this - being arrested - I'd have done it years ago."

"We're not being arrested, we're being escorted!"

"Where to?"

"Where'd you think? Downing Street!" The Doctor laughed, Rose joining him.

Astrid had always wanted to know what was so special about the address and when she asked as much, the pair in the back fell back into even more gales of laughter. She crossed her arms defensively and pouted at the man. The Doctor grinned at her widely, "It's the seat of government in Britain and home to the Prime Minister."

"Oh."

They cracked up again. The Doctor nods at her finally understanding and grins widely.

Rose asked curiously, "How come we are going there?"

The Doctor grew serious and a bit disgruntled. "I hate to say it, but Mickey was right. Over the years I've visited this planet a lot of times, and I've been, uh - noticed."

Rose was just as serious. "Now they need you?"

"Like it said on the news - they're gathering experts in alien knowledge. And who's the biggest expert of the lot?" He grinned expectantly at her.

"Patrick Moore?" Her face was completely straight, a perfect poker face.

The Doctor didn't know this of course and was completely indignant. "Apart from him!"

Rose grinned to show she was teasing as Astrid openly laughed from her position in the front passenger seat. "Ah, don't you just love it..."

"I'm telling you, Lloyd George - he used to drink me under the table. Who's the Prime Minister now?"

"How should I know? I missed a year."

"Don't look at me. I hate politics. I never watch the news. Way too damn depressing." Astrid chimed in.

The car pulled up outside 10 Downing Street amid the paparazzi and hundreds of police men. The Doctor got out of the car first and waves at them all, grinning manically as they called out for special shots and the reporters asked questions.

Rose smiled nervously and then looked up at 10 Downing Street. Her voice was barely above a whisper, "Oh my God!"

Quickly, they were all ushered inside one of the most important buildings in Britain.

* * *

><p>Astrid and Rose stood on either side of the Doctor. One of the bad guys—Astrid couldn't remember her name, the one in the blue suit from MI5—was talking to Rose when she saw Harriet Jones make her way into the reception room. She could almost hear the standard greeting Harriet Jones had given all throughout the episode and grinned hugely.<strong><br>**

Harriet drifted through the room and tried to look inconspicuous, all the time Astrid watching her movements. The secretary—_Indra. His name is Indra._—comes into the room and calls out. "Ladies and Gentlemen, could we convene? Quick as we can, please. It's this way on the right," he gestured as he made his way across the room and raised his hand with a card hanging on a chain, "and can I remind you, ID cards are to be worn at all times." He had managed to work his way across the room and handed the Doctor the card he carried. "Here's your ID card. I'm sorry, your companions don't have clearance." He finished, people moving around the four of them.

The Doctor was just stating a fact as he tried to slip the ID card around his neck with Astrid grabbed his arm. "I don't go anywhere without them." He looked intensely at her face and especially her eyes. It was something important. Dread was deep in her blue eyes, pleading with him to understand.

Indra saw the exchange but as a gentleman, didn't comment upon it. "You're the Code Nine, not them." Harriet Jones comes up behind Indra as the secretary kept talking. "I'm sorry, Doctor... it is the Doctor, isn't it? They'll have to stay outside."

The Doctor grabbed Astrid's shoulder in a reassuring grip. "They're staying with me."

Indra just tried to make the alien understand. "Look, even Idon't have clearance to go in there. I can't let them in and that's a fact."

Astrid leaned up to the Doctor, knowing this was the time when Indra would be occupied with Harriet, and whispered softly enough into his ear that not even Rose could hear her. "The Prime Minister is an alien in disguise. He's got the ID cards rigged. Be careful." The Doctor's face was utterly serious as he nodded in understanding and disappeared into the conference room.

Harriet's voice came into her awareness when Indra took Rose's arm to lead her to security. "It's alright. I'll look after them. Let me be of some use." She turned to Rose and Astrid. "Walk with me. Just keep walking..." They walked straight past the guards, holding machine guns, at the door. "That's right...don't look round! Harriet Jones, MP Flydale North." She held up her ID card and Astrid snorted in laughter.

They moved to the corridor and stood right below the stairs, Harriet stopping them to talk, trying to keep her cool and calm, but obviously upset. "This friend of yours... he's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

Astrid let Rose lead, knowing what the woman had seen. "Why do you wanna know?" But when Harriet broke down crying, Astrid held her gently, murmuring soothing nonsense into her ear.

Harriet led them up to the Cabinet Room and opened up the closet door, showing the two girls the skin/body suit of Oliver. They turned the body into a suit! A disguise for the thing inside!" Harriet broke down again, not that Astrid could blame her one bit. _Though it is a bit weird, me comforting a woman old enough to be my mother._

Rose reassured her vocally, "It's alright! I believe you. It's... it's alien." She started to move around the room, searching. "They must have some SERIOUStechnology behind this... if we could find it..." She rummages around the room, pulling open cabinets and went to a door. "...we could use it." She opened up a cupboard and the body of a very slim, graying man fell out.

Rose and Harriet hurry to examine it. Astrid stood by the entrance door, her face a mask so as not to show any emotion. _This episode…so much is out of my control. The Prime Minister was dead before we ever landed here yesterday. So were the people the Slitheen are wearing. I just hope I can make a small bit of difference._

Rose exclaimed in surprise, "Oh, my God! Is that…?"

When Indra entered the room, he was beyond exasperated. "Harriet, for God's sake! This has gone beyond a joke - you cannot just wander…" He froze as he spotted the body on the floor. "Oh, my God. That's the Prime Minister!"

"Ohhh!"

They all looked up to see the blue suited woman from before enter the Cabinet Room. Astrid grabbed Rose's arm in one hand and Harriet's in the other.

"Has someone been naughty?" They looked at each other as the blue suited woman—_what is her name?—_shut the door behind her.

Indra spoke insistently, "That's impossible. He left this afternoon. The Prime Minister left Downing Street, he was driven away!"

_Margaret! Her name is Margaret!_ Margaret was smiling a bit evilly. _That's actually rather good. I thought Dad had the best evil smile and evil laugh, but when faced with ACTUAL bad guys…it's much scarier._ "And who told you that? Hmm?" Margaret walked up to the baffled Indra. "Me." Her voice was sickly sweet. Her right hand came up to her forehead and began to open up her head, like a zipper. The Slitheen began to shimmy out of the skin suit, and while the others in the room were shocked and frozen, Astrid gripped Rose's and Harriet's hands tightly, ready to run when the chance came.

Indra was the first to die when Margaret grabbed his neck, pulled him up against the curtains of the Cabinet Room at least two feet off the floor, and let gravity do the work as she literally choked the life out of him. _I'm sorry, Indra. I'm so sorry…but given the choice…God help me, but I choose Rose. God help me!_

[to be continued...]

* * *

><p><em>What do you think? Reviews are love!<em>


	6. World War Three

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 6: World War III**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Do I look like a millionaire? Then quit asking! I do own Astrid, though. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** Beta is on vacation. All mistakes are mine.

**AN2:** Some aspects of this chapter are inspired by the fanfic 'NotRose' written by NoVacancyMind. I highly recommend it!

_Astrid's thoughts_

* * *

><p>Time was getting short. <em>That's an interesting sentence when you travel with a Time Lord. <em>Soon, Margaret—the Slitheen posing as Margaret—would get tired of holding up the body of Indra and would turn to them. A thought suddenly occurred to Astrid and while Margaret was dealing with Indra, she—still holding Rose's and Harriet's hands—slowly pulled the two women to the left, around the table, and was three-quarters down the huge Cabinet Room table opposite to the Slitheen when Margaret realized they weren't where she had last seen them. Astrid pushed the two woman ahead of her and yelled, "RUN!"

_Where's the electricity? Oh…I told the Doctor, so he probably did something, which means the people I tried to save will more than likely live…but we get no respite from the one trying to kill us! No good deed goes unpunished…but in the long run, that is what, twenty people sa—_

Astrid's thoughts were halted when she heard the electricity start behind her and Margaret's screams. Her thoughts immediately turned sad, knowing all the people she had tried to save were dead though they did get an extra minute or two it wasn't enough, even as she shooed Rose and Harriet faster before her, wanting to get as far away from the Slitheen as possible. Rose looked terrified as Harriet whimpered slightly. "Keep going, it won't last for long!"

They were running down a corridor—_how does anyone keep track of where they are going in this place, it all looks the same!_—when Harriet suddenly jerked to a halt. "No, wait!" Rose looks back, stopping as well. "They're still in there! The emergency protocols! We need them!"

Harriet leads the way at a run, back in the direction they had just come from. Rose follows her, Astrid at the back, but they were quickly forced to change direction as Margaret the Slitheen comes their way. _And the chase goes on!_ They run across a hallway, Astrid closing the door behind them. Margaret simply leapt through it. Rose, Astrid, and Harriet arrive back in another room, shutting the door behind them.

Rose tried to knee open the next locked door they come to when an elevator pinged behind them. Astrid glared at the Doctor—for that was who was in the lift—with his cheerful "Hello!" just calmly used his sonic screwdriver to get the lift doors closed again with a ping. But it had bought them just enough time to get the door open and slip through without Margaret noticing. _He's annoying even when he's helping. Or not..._The room they found themselves in was a dead end since all the doors in there were locked with nowhere to go next and Margaret on their heels.

Rose took this to mean she should state the obvious. "Hide!" Rose took the spot of behind what looked like someone's sick cross between a hope chest, a desk, and a wine cupboard. Harriet went behind the plain white Chinese silk screen. Astrid looked around and cursed mentally in great detail. She was stuck with being behind the heavy curtains. _This is so not good._

Not too long after they were in position, she heard the playfully annoying banter of Margaret Slitheen. "Oh, such fun! Little human children..." Her voice was kinda of bubbly with a trill to it, if that made any sense. It was definitely odd. _But I suppose that they think our language and manner of speaking is odd too. _"…where are you? Sweet little humeykins... come to me... let me kiss you better..."

Rose chose this moment to bolt from her rather exposed hiding place to right beside Astrid behind the curtain. The brunette gave her friend a reassuring forced smile and reached forward to squeeze her hand tightly.

"...kiss you with my big, green lips." A slurping sound that made Astrid's skin crawl came out of the Slitheen's mouth. Another few seconds of trying desperately to breathe as little as possible. "My brothers." _Oh crap, that means there are at least two more in here. Shit!_

The voice of Joseph Green, still with the mildly bubbly/trilling aspect to it, came from the direction of the door. " Happy hunting?"

"It's wonderful. The more you prolong it, the more they stink."

The came General Asquith's voice, still bubbly. _I guess that is just how all Slitheen sound. Weird. Where the hell is the Doctor?_ "Sweat…and fear."

"I can smell an old girl... stale bird... brittle bones." _Huh, the Tenth Doctor is rude too. I'd wonder if it's a Brit trait, except that Rose isn't. Neither is Harriet, come to think of it. I just hope Harriet doesn't take the bait!_

"And ripe youngsters. All hormones and adrenaline. Fresh enough to bend before they snap." Margaret had been padding rather quietly as she spoke and with the last word, swept aside the curtain hiding Astrid and Rose, who screamed shortly. This prompted Harriet to jump from her hiding spot and scream, "No! Take me first! Take me!" Her hands were in a spread-eagle formation, her purse still hanging from one hand as she focused the Slitheen's attention on her, hoping the girls could get away with the time.

Of course, her quite frankly really loud screams—as she had intended, all the better to focus attention—let the Doctor know exactly which door to crash through with a fire extinguisher. He balanced it on the arm of the nearest couch and blasted white foamy stuff in the two closest alien faces. "Out! With me!" Rose gives Astrid a look and in perfect tandem, they each grab a side of the curtain they had been hiding behind and yanked mightily. It ripped immediately and they pulled it over Margaret Slitheen's head while simultaneously stepping forward to follow the Doctor. It took less than a second and by the second number two—_because saying 'second second' is just a bit confusing_—they were across the room and behind the Doctor and his 'weapon'.

He blows the fire extinguisher once more before frowning at Harriet on his other side, "Who the hell are you?"

Harriet, being Harriet, said the same thing she had constantly the entirety of the last episode. "Harriet Jones - MP for Flydale North." _I'm just surprised she didn't pull out her ID again._

"Nice to meet you." He sprayed the Slitheen again.

"Likewise." Harriet said with a smile on her face.

The Doctor blasted the fire extinguisher one more time. Astrid cried out in pain as the Slitheen screamed as well from the extinguisher fluid. It was too much for her ears and she clutched them in agony. The Doctor grabbed hold of her shoulders with one arm and pushed with the other into the small of her back to get her running. Rose and Harriet were already out of the room, the Doctor with Astrid bringing up the rear.

Fortunately for her, the Slitheen didn't scream for much longer and she was able to run at max again. '_There is an insane amount of running involved when you're with him.' When you are right, Donna, you're right. Good grief, I never actually counted how much running would be going on when she said that, but at this rate, I will be able to live up to my dad's favorite saying. 'That which does not kill me has made a tactical error.'_

Another corridor. They all looked the same to Astrid, she was just following the line of running people. The Doctor behind her, probably making sure she didn't halt again from the noise the Slitheen were making following them. He called out to Rose in front, "We need to get to the cabinet rooms!"

Harriet piped up. _She sure is good at the running. The fact that she is still in her high-heels makes it doubly impressive. Talking and running in high-heels…yup, she is an awesome lady._ "The Emergency Protocols are in there! They give instructions on aliens!" _Oh, and I forgot. She has a beautiful mind! Though the movie was horrible, they hardly got any facts right in that film._

While she was thinking, the Doctor had maneuvered himself to be infront leading the way, Harriet behind, followed by Rose and then Astrid. He called back to the 40s woman, "Harriet Jones - I like you."

Harriet's tone was so pleasant, as if at tea, that Astrid wondered where the scones were. "I like you too." _One day, I'm going to have to make 'real' biscuits for Rose. Proper American ones that go with breakfast with butter and honey. I wonder if the TARDIS will let me use the kitchen?_

Astrid thoughts were derailed as she cried out in pain at the Slitheen screech behind them. Rose grabbed her and had to pull her along. "We're almost there. Come on!" Even though Rose now knew exactly why high-pitched sounds hurt her friend, sometimes the moments when it made itself known were really bad timing.

The Doctor leads the train of women down one corridor after another, Rose holding tightly to Astrid's hand just in case, before pausing at a locked door. He pulls out his sonic screwdriver at a dead run and unlocks the door in a second or two. It was enough that they didn't have time to close the door behind them.

The Doctor, thinking quickly as he always did, picked up a decanted bottle of brandy and held his sonic screwdriver up to it. Harriet had grabbed the security protocols, in the conspicuous red briefcase, while this was going on. Rose was on the other side of the Doctor, her hand tightly gripping Astrid's as the brunette was whimpering every once in a while from the sounds the Slitheen made.

The Doctor was not above bluffing. "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol. Whoof! We all go up. So back off." His tone was so serious, despite the playful 'whoof' of course, that the Slitheen did stop and wait for a more opportune moment. "Right then. Question time." His tone went back to being both hard as stone and slightly cheery. _He had to perfect that tone for centuries I bet._ "Who exactly are the Slitheen?" he dropped the brandy down about six inches but kept his hands in position.

Harriet decided to help. "They're aliens."

The Doctor looked back at her before focusing back on the Slitheen. "Yes. I got that, thanks."

The Joseph Green Slitheen asked curiously, "Who are you, if not human?"

"Who's not human?" Harriet again.

"He's not human." Rose joined the dialogue.

Harriet's response was immediate and incredulous. "He's not human?"

The Doctor looked back again, a little miffed at being caught outside a conversation he was the key player in. "Can I have a bit of hush?"

"Sorry." Harriet actually sounded apologetic too. _She really is a wonderful lady. I forgot how accepting she was in the beginning. Damn shame she grew out of it._

He turned back to speak to the Slitheen. "So - what's the plan?"

Harriet couldn't let it go quite yet though. "But he's got a Northern accent."

Astrid wanted to put in her cents worth. So she said the line for Rose, laughing hysterically in her mind. She always loved this scene. "Lots of planets have a north."

The Doctor only half turned this time, "I said hush." He looked back at the Slitheen and held up the brandy threateningly again. "Come on! You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea transmitting a signal. You've murdered your way to the top of government. What for? Invasion?"

The Slitheen that pretended to be the general spoke, "Why would we invade this godforsaken rock?"  
><strong><br>**"Then something's brought the Slitheen race here. What is it?" The Doctor demanded.

"'The Slitheen race'?" He hissed in anger.

"Slitheen is not our species. Slitheen is our surname. Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer-Day-Slitheen at your service." The Green creature actually had the audacity to sound offended.

The Doctor went from a shocked look to another smile, his voice was quiet. "So, you're family?"

The damn thing sounded proud. "A family business."

The implications went by on the Doctor's face in nanoseconds, the realization staying. "Then you're out to make a profit. How can you do that on a 'godforsaken rock'?"

And their luck ran out. "Ahhh... excuse me. Your device will do what? Triplicate the flammability...?"

The Doctor nodded, "That's what I said."

"You're making it up!"

"Ah, well! Nice try. Harriet, have a drink. I think you're gonna need it." He offers the old-ish lady the decanter over his right shoulder.

Harriet—_god bless her, I needed that laugh—_said "You pass it to the left first." _Of all the times to be worried about propriety._

"Sorry." He handed it to Rose over his left shoulder.

"Thanks." Rose said mostly out of habit.  
><strong><br>**"Now we can end this hunt... with a slaughter." The general Slitheen raised his claws menacingly. He probably enjoyed the smell of adrenaline already rushing back through the women's veins.

The Doctor however, just crossed his arms over his chest. Rose was concerned as she asked, "Don't you think we should run?"

The Slitheen shuffled forward as the Doctor spoke in a tone that was both cheery and a bit like her college professor. "Fascinating history, Downing Street. Two thousand years ago, this was marsh land. 1730, it was occupied by a Mr. Chicken. He was a nice man. 1796, this was the Cabinet Room. If the cabinet's in session and in danger, these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain." He flipped up a gray cover and pressed a switch that was by the door. "End of lesson."

Every entrance to the Cabinet Room was immediately blocked by metal shutters meeting in the middle in a tooth-like joining.

The Doctor turned back to face the room and subsequently Rose, Astrid, and Harriet. "Installed in 1991. Three inches of steel lining every single wall. They'll never get in."

Rose once again asked the obvious. "And how do we get out?"

Silence quiet enough that the proverbial pin could have been dropped. Astrid basked in the silence of the Slitheen sounds as the Doctor, his grin never faltering, said "Ah."

* * *

><p>Astrid watched emotionlessly as the Doctor dragged the body of the junior secretary into the closet. He had already dragged in the former Prime Minister. Or as emotionlessly as she could get. It was starting to get a bit much. Trying to save them didn't seem to help things at all. <em>And I'm the reason he's dead. It's my fault.<em>

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Doctor's voice, "What was his name?"

Harriet answered absently. "Who?"

"This one - the secretary or whatever he was called."

Harriet got up from her spot reading the emergency protocols, walking over to have a look at who he was talking about. "I don't know. I talked to him. I brought him a cup of coffee. I never asked his name." She was a nice lady, and sounded genuinely upset and apologetic that she had overlooked something as important as a name.

_At least I can do some little good. _Astrid cleared her throat. "Indra. His name was Indra."

The Doctor glanced at her briefly before he focused on the body. He crossed Indra's arms over his chest and said quietly, "Sorry Indra." He got up and there was a determined swagger to his stride as he came fully into the Cabinet Room. "Right, what have we got? Any terminals? Anything?"

Rose, who had been making herself useful by looking anywhere and everywhere in the room for anything that might be remotely helpful, answered with annoyance clear in her voice. "No. The place is antique. What I don't get, is when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise?"

The Doctor was using his sonic screwdriver to go over the metal-shielded windows. "He's too slim - they're big old beasts, they need to fit inside big humans."

Rose was still confused, but her tone at least had gone from annoyance to curiosity. "But the Slitheen are about 8 feet, how do they squeeze inside?"

He looked at her for a few seconds before answering absently as he continued to examine each of the windows. "That's the device around their necks - compression field - literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange."

The blond was a bit miffed as she commented, "Wish I had a compression field, I could fit a size smaller."

Harriet, the lovely lady, was quick to reprimand her. "Excuse me, people are dead. This is not the time for making jokes."

"Sorry... you get used to this stuff when you're friends with him." Rose pointed to the Doctor in explanation.

"Well, that's a strange friendship."

Astrid spoke up from her position in the corner of the room, arms crossed defensively over her chest, just watching the proceedings. "There are two ways to deal with prolonged combat conditions: find the humor or break down. Rose and the Doctor like to make jokes."

Harriet looked at the brunette in concern. "And you?"

"I break down after the situation has resolved itself."

The Doctor took this time to turn to Astrid and gave her a look she couldn't quite identify. "No you don't. Those that break down give up. You haven't. I've seen you, watched you. You find the humor in situations as well; you just keep it to yourself." He suddenly got sidetracked by a thought that occurred to him and he turned his full attention, always a heady thing, to the more experienced brunette. "Harriet Jones - I've heard that name before - Harriet Jones. You're not famous for anything, are you?"

She laughed with self-deprecation. "Hardly!"

"Rings a bell, Harriet Jones..." He looked as though he was struggling to remember something. Astrid giggled, knowing exactly what he was trying to remember. _I can't tell him while Harriet's in the room though. Plus, he looks cute with that face._ She caught the knowing look on his face along with an 'I told you so' gleam in his eyes and Astrid's mouth dropped open. _He did that on purpose! He made me laugh, in this crappy situation, he made me laugh. Oh, this is bad…_

Her thoughts were sidetracked by Harriet's exasperated reply. "Lifelong back bencher I'm afraid, and a fat lot of use I'm being now. The protocols are redundant, they list the people who can help and they're all unconscious in hospital."

Astrid froze. Her mind ground to an abrupt halt. She knew that line and it was wrong. Her blue eyes, recently free from a lifelong need for glasses courtesy of the Doctor's medical bay, jumped to his face. Her voice cut through the conversation, filled with hope, her eyes focused on the Doctor. "Unconscious?"

He looked at her as he split into an ear-to-ear grin. "Yes."

"They're not dead?" _Just to confirm, best to confirm. It's better than asking 'Really and truly?'. _

"No." His solemn, no-nonsense voice coupled with the ear-splitting grin had her dancing on the spot. She flung herself at him, hugging him for all she was worth—_a true glomp_—and laughing in delight. He was laughing with her, too.

When they finally got calmed down, or more specifically when Astrid got herself calmed down, Harriet asked, "Why would you think they were dead?"

Once again, Astrid froze. She cleared her throat before answering hesitantly, "I'm not exactly from this dimension. In my world, this has already happened. I'm trying to change it."

Harriet's face was thoughtful as she tried to understand the implications of Astrid's confession. Rose cut in before the lady could ask anything REALLY difficult, moving around the table to stand beside the older woman. "Hasn't the protocols got like, defense codes and things?" She gestured, one hand going up in a smooth motion. "Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at 'em?"

Harriet was suitably distracted as she stared at the blond. "You're a very violent young woman."

Rose had a tone of amusement in her voice at the success of 'Operation Distract Harriet' as she continued. "I'm serious! We could!"

"Well, there's nothing like that in here. Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but it's kept secret by the United Nations."

The Doctor, having gone back to examining every wall and window and was now onto the mantelpiece with his screwdriver after Astrid's hug, stopped what he was doing, turned to face Harriet. "Say that again." He crossed to stand beside the lady, leaning against a chair back.

"What, about the codes?" Harriet's voice was curious, not quite understanding.

"Anything. All of it." His face was deep in thoughts, frowning as he contemplated her next answer. He had a glimmer of an idea.

Harriet thought a moment. "Um, well... the British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a special resolution from the UN."

"Like that's every stopped them." Rose put in her two cents.

"Exactly, given our past record - and I voted against that, thank you very much. The codes have been taken out of the governments hands and given to the UN. Is it important?"

His reply was almost absent as he replied. "Everything's important."

"If we only knew what the Slitheen wanted. Listen to me, I'm saying 'Slitheen' as if it's normal!" Harriet was a bit incredulous at the end of her statements.

Rose however was genuinely curious. "What do they want, though?"

The Doctor started to walk, a bit like pacing without the back and forth, as he answered and worked it out for himself. "Well, it's just one family so it's not an invasion. They don't want Slitheen world. They're out to make money, which means they want to use something. Something here on Earth... some kind of asset.

Harriet chipped in, proving again how such a neat lady she was. "Like what? Gold? Oil? Water?"

The Doctor seemed to think so too, grinning at her. "You're very good at this."

She was beyond pleased. "Thank you." Astrid was surprised she wasn't blushing.

He went back to being thoughtful, trying to remember. "Harriet Jones - why do I know that name?"

They all got distracted by Rose's phone beeping. "That's me." She took it out of her pocket.

Harriet went back to being incredulous. "But we're sealed off - how did you get a signal?" _I wonder if she feels like a yo-yo._ Astrid giggled softly.

Rose held out the phone to show that it was on and working. "He zapped it! Super-phone." She began to push buttons and fiddle with it to see who had sent her something and what the something was.

Harriet turned to the Doctor and half pleaded. "Then we can phone for help! You must have contacts."

"All in hospital, yeah."

The blond's voice was distracted as she explained. "It's Mickey."

He was now irritated, he really didn't like her boyfriend. "Oh, tell your stupid boyfriend we're busy."

"Yeah, he's not so stupid after all." She handed the Doctor her phone. He takes it and sees that Mickey had sent her the photo of the Slitheen in Jackie's kitchen, getting electrocuted. Mickey called her and Rose listened intently before asking, "Is she alright, though? Don't put her on, just tell me."

The Doctor snatched the phone from her hand and put it up to his ear. "Is that Ricky? Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer." He was more than a little annoyed at having to rely on a 'stupid ape' to get information. He paused, listening. "Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this sentence, but eh…I need you."

Rose grinned by his elbow.

While Mickey was doing as he was told, the Doctor had found the speakerphone and was hooking Rose's phone up so that all of them could hear. Something comes out, but the buzz of the wire blocked it. "Say it again."

Mickey's voice came out loud and clear. "It's asking for the password."

Harriet was pouring them all a glass of brandy in the corner of the table as Rose and the Doctor were in the middle with the speakerphone. Astrid was sitting across from the two, just listening. She was still in a nice spot from learning at least some good had come from her meddling.

The Doctor spoke clearly. "Buffalo - two Fs, one L."

Jackie said something about a website with a question in her tone and Mickey's voice came through as he explained. "All the secret information known to mankind. See, they've known about aliens for years, they just kept us in the dark."

The Doctor's irritation at Rose's boyfriend came through loud and clear. "Mickey, you were born in the dark!"

Rose was now, of course, irritated at the Doctor for picking on him. "Oh, leave him alone."

Mickey said, "Thank you." He clicked something before talking to the Doctor again. "Password again."

The Doctor was a bit better after Rose's rebuke. "Just repeat it, every time." He moved around the table as Harriet started to pass out the brandy. "Big Ben - why did the Slitheen hit Big Ben?"

Harriet handed the Doctor his glass as she answered, "You said to gather the experts…to kill them."

He shook his head. "That lot would've gathered for a weather balloon, you don't need to crash land in the middle of London. Astrid, what can you tell us?"

The brunette took the drink from Harriet when it was handed to her, but just set it on the table. She was a very happy drunk as well as a very cheap drunk. One shot would do her in, and this really wasn't a good time for a giggle-fest. "Do you REALLY want me to tell you?" She knew how much he liked a challenge. She was rewarded for her insight into his character with a big grin and she laughed. _At this point it wouldn't help anyway. _

Rose chipped in again. "The Slitheen were hiding, but then they put the entire planet on red alert, what would they do that for?"

Jackie's voice came through on the speaker. "Oh, listen to her."

"At least I'm trying!"

Jackie was back to her usual demanding self. "Well, I've got a question if you don't mind. Because since that man walked into our lives, I have been attacked in the streets. I have had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and my daughters disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Rose quietly answered, "I told you what happened."

Her mother cut through. "I'm talking to him! 'Cause I've seen this life of yours, Doctor. And maybe you get off on it. And maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me. Just answer me this…is my daughter safe?"

Astrid's heart wrenched at the singular use of 'daughter', but she spoke up from her place. "Jackie. You know I would never let Rose put herself in harm's way. You know that. I'll protect Rose with everything I have. I'll always choose Rose."

She saw the look on the Doctor's face though and knew the original question had hit home. That intense stare of his that seemed to look through the table. He glanced up at the brunette and they shared that look, both willing to rise up to her promise.

Jackie's voice was insistent. "Astrid, you may as well be my daughter too. So, tell me Doctor. Are they safe? Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that?" She had changed pronouns, but the damage was done. Astrid knew that even though Jackie might say that she was her daughter and mean it at the time, she never would be. Rose was all the family she had, all she ever would have again.

The Doctor turns his stare to Rose. Rose doesn't completely understand what Astrid has said or that the Doctor had agreed, her face was just an apology for her mother.

"Well, what's the answer?"

Mickey apparently had gotten back control of the phone. "We're in."

The Doctor and Astrid were let off the hook. The Doctor rushed around the table to stand by Astrid's side as he stared at the speaker. "Right then. On the left, there's a tab—an icon—little concentric circles. Click on that."

A sound came through the phone in a repeated pattern of incomprehensible beeps with a hum underneath. Mickey asked, "What is it?"

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea and it's transmitting that signal. Now hush, let me work out what its saying."

Jackie said something but Mickey whispered, "Hush."

The Doctor ignored them both. "It's some sort of message."

Rose was as curious as ever. "What's it say?" _Though from her perspective, this hasn't happened yet and it is all new. She actually has things to be curious about._

"Don't know. It's on a loop, keeps repeating." A doorbell rings and the Doctor snarls over the phone. "Hush!"

Mickey explained. "That's not me." Presumably to Jackie he continued, "Go and see who that is." Jackie said something, to which he answered in exasperation. "Well go and tell them that."

The Doctor was still concentrating on the signal message. "It's beaming out into space, who's it for?"

A few more doorbells. Then Jackie's voice came through, though unintelligible, she was frightened. Mickey said in a flat tone. "They've found us."

"Mickey, I need that signal."

Rose, however, had no problems with talking right over him and yelling. "Never mind the signal, mum just get out! Get out! Get out!"

Mickey was being remarkably calm about all of this. "We can't, it's by the front door." A weird buzzing came through the phone and then, "Oh, my God. It's unmasking. It's gonna kill us."

Harriet yelled out. "There's got to be some way of stopping them!" She gestured to the Doctor as she angrily demanded. "You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"

"I'm trying!"

Astrid took this time to sit upright; her eyes were intently closed as she tried to remember the exact wording. Sometimes her ADD came in handy and this was one of the times. All of the information was triggering the memory of the episode in vivid detail and as she closed her eyes, she could picture it in her mind, hear the voices of the actors. The only downside was that she had to do it in order from wherever she remembered. Her biggest memory of this specific time in the episode was the 'narrows it down' part of the Doctor's speech.

Rose knew the look of intense concentration on her friend's face and her eyes widened in understanding. "Come on, Astrid. It's my mother. Please!" Her voice, though pleading, was quiet. Rose had asked about the look before, what Astrid did when she looked that way, and knew that the wrong sound would make her start over.

The Doctor's attention was jerked to the brunette sitting by his side and watched as her eyes went back and forth like she was in REM sleep, her head tilted to the side as if listening.

Astrid suddenly blinked and leaned in. "Mickey, hand the phone to Jackie." She listened as the phone audibly changed hands. "Jackie! In the kitchen, go the cupboard by the sink. On the middle shelf. Grab the pitcher in the right hand sink and fill it with anything and everything containing vinegar."

Jackie's voice came through as she did exactly as asked and was excited when she found what was needed. "Gherkins! Yeah! Pickled onions! Picked eggs!"

The Doctor was incredulous as he asked Rose, "You kiss this man?"

Astrid ignored him. "Jackie, throw the concoction into the Slitheen's face. Preferably when he's out in the hallway and not your living room." She listened intently and then smiled brightly when a loud 'BANG!' came through the phone. She sat back in relief.

The Doctor, Rose, and Harriet gave great sighs of relief as well. Harriet was giving Astrid a very interesting expression. Astrid swallowed harshly at that look. _Eventually, 'The Christmas Invasion' will happen, she'll be Prime Minister…and I think I'll be really screwed if she gets her hands on me then._

The Doctor quirked an eyebrow. "Which planet?"

Astrid blushed scarlet. "I can't pronounce it. Rexicorac—Raxicorico—Raxacorico—"

He grinned at her. "Raxacoricofallapatorius."

"Yup! That one!" She smiled up at him.

Mickey came back on the line. "Listen to this."

Joseph Green's voice was next to be heard. "Our inspectors have searched the sky above our heads and they have found massive weapons of destruction, capable of being deployed within 45 seconds."

The Doctor was rightfully confused. "What?"

"Our technicians can…baffle…the alien probes, but not for long. We are facing extinction unless we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg the United Nations, pass an emergency resolution. Give us the access codes. A nuclear strike at the heart of the ship is our only chance of survival. Because...from this moment on...it is my solemn duty to inform you...planet Earth is at war." _If I didn't know any better, he'd convince me. That's a little scary. Good thing I know better._

The Doctor moved around the table, pointing and glaring at the speakerphone. "He's making it up. There's no weapons up there, there's no threat. He just invented it."

"Do you think they'll believe him?" Harriet was understandably upset.

Rose commented quietly. "They did last time."

The Doctor moved toward the door as he spoke, he finally knew what the Slitheen wanted. He really didn't like it either. "That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle. They want the whole world panicking, because you lot—you get scared, you lash out."

Rose understood too. "They release the defense codes..."

"And the Slitheen go nuclear." The Doctor finished her sentence.

Harriet didn't yet fully comprehend what made the aliens come. "But why?" _She will soon_.

The Doctor opened the metal shutters with a click of the gray button. The Slitheen were still standing outside the door. _Almost as if they were waiting for us to come out. That's really smart, but I'd rather the bad guys not be smart. Can't the bad guys be stupid for once!_"You get the codes, release the missiles—but not into space because there's nothing there. You attack every other country on Earth, they retaliate, fight back. World War Three. Whole planet gets nuked."

Margaret Slitheen, still in her skin suit, came from behind the three other Slitheen to stand before the Doctor. "And we can sit through it in our spaceship waiting in the Thames. Not crashed. Just parked. Only two minutes away!"

Harriet still didn't understand and she demanded an answer. "But you'll destroy the planet, this beautiful place. What for?"

The Doctor did. "Profit. That's what the signal is beaming into space—an advert."

Margaret was actually remarkably calm, collected, and disgustingly smug. "Sale of the century. We reduce the Earth to molten slag, then sell it. Piece by piece. Radioactive chucks, capable of powering every cut-price star liner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor. People are buying cheap. This rock becomes raw fuel."

The Doctor was just matter-of-fact about it. He was very calm. "At the cost of 5 billion lives." _The Ninth Doctor is always more dangerous when he's calm. So's the Tenth. Eleven is more dangerous when he's emotional. At least I know what's going to happen. Makes it a little bit less scary, and I can predict what will set him off. Though that doesn't take much thought. 'I'm going to stop you from killing the Earth.' Yup…and here comes the idiocy._

Margaret was still super smug. "Bargain!"

"Then I give you a choice—leave this planet or I'll stop you."

All of the Slitheen start to laugh. _They have no idea they have brought down the wrath of the Lonely God onto their heads. They should be more careful. Margaret especially. _"What? You? Trapped in your box?"

The Doctor just stared at her. His expression didn't change; a mask of emotionless calm. "Yes. Me." Margaret stopped laughing, the smirk fading from her features, as he pressed the button again and the metal shutters closed back into place.

* * *

><p>Mickey had apparently set the phone on top of the TV set, since the sound of the newsreader came through loud and clear with no muffling. "It's midnight here in New York. The United Nations has gathered. England has provided them with absolute proof that the massive weapons of mass destruction do exist. The Security Council will be making a resolution in a matter of minutes. And once the codes are released, humanity's first interplanetary war begins."<p>

Jackie speaks into the phone anxiously. "Alright, Doctor. I'm not saying I trust you, but there must be something you can do."

Harriet, ever the clever lady, comments, "If we could ferment the porch, we could make acetic acid."

Rose was trying to help. "Mickey, any luck?"

"There's loads of emergency numbers—they're all on voicemail."

The Doctor was standing quietly with his arms folded, leaning against the wall away from the others. He face conveyed how deep in thought he actually was. He looked up at the young brunette and saw that she knew exactly what he was thinking.

Harriet was sad. "Voicemail dooms us all."

Astrid looked straight into the Doctor's eyes and slowly, deliberately, nodded her head. She knew. And she agreed.

Rose was just shy of desperate. "If we could just get out of here..."

The Doctor, encouraged by Astrid's agreement with his decision, voiced calmly. "There's a way out."

Rose was incredulous as she spun to face him. "What?"

"There's always been a way out."

"Then why don't we use it?"

The Doctor strided over to the table and leaned over to speak into the phone. He spoke directly to Jackie. "Because I can't guarantee your daughters will be safe."

Jackie, being Jackie, was immediately against the idea. "Don't you dare! Whatever it is, don't you dare!"

"That's the thing, if I don't dare, everyone dies."

"Do it." It was said in stereo from both girls. They glanced at each other before turning both of their attention onto him.

The Doctor looks up at the pair of them. Both standing side by side, one pair of knowing eyes and two pairs of trusting eyes. "Rose, you don't even know what it is. You'd just let me?"

Rose simply said, "Yeah."

Astrid was a bit more vocal. "Even if I didn't know, I would let you. Doctor, I know you. I trust you more than anyone else. Do it."

All he could do was stare at the two of them. Such trust from two humans after so little time. It was incredible.

Jackie's voice came through again. "Please, Doctor. Please! They're my daughters, they're just kids!"

His voice was soft, but it was kind of pleading. _Maybe he wants her to understand. _"Do you think I don't know that? Because this is my life, Jackie, it's not fun, it's not smart. It's just standing up and making a decision because nobody else will."

Rose was just as quiet as before, but her eyes conveyed her trust. She would follow this man until the ends of the universe and back. She knew Astrid would too. "Then what're you waiting for?"

He looked back up at the two of them. Astrid could see it in his own eyes. _He truly cares about us. About both of us. Even me._ It was in his face, his eyes, his body language, and his tone. "I could save the world but lose you both." They could see in his eyes, that he could never make that decision. He had already done it once, Astrid knew, sacrificing his world and others for the sake of the universe. He couldn't do it again, not to them. He cared about them too much.

Rose and Astrid looked into the Doctor's eyes as he looked into theirs. Rose finally averted her gaze after a few seconds, smiling slightly in understanding. Then she saw Astrid's face and her heart warmed. She knew now that her sister in all but blood had a crush, and a strong crush at that. It was about damn time!

"Except it's not your decision, Doctor. It's mine." Harriet's voice jolted all of their attention to her. She walked around the table to stand firmly and with the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.

Jackie spoke angrily into the phone. "And who the hell are you?"

"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North. The only elected representative in this room, chosen by the people, for the people, and on behalf of the people I command you. Do it." _Responsibility does look good on her._

The Doctor looked back at the girls and grinned. He grabbed the emergency protocols briefcase as Rose jumped up onto the table. "How do we get out."

His voice was frank. "We don't. We stay here." The Doctor shuffled through the protocols and then turned to address Mickey. "Use the buffalo password, it overrides everything."

Astrid grabbed Rose's arm and tugged her off the table and gestured to Harriet. "Come on. We need to clear out the closet. We are going to stay in there to ride out the explosion. Doctor, you keep on with Mickey." She ordered the man, who raised his eyebrows at her abrupt shift in personality. She was actually pretty good at giving orders. Soon, both Harriet and Rose had a hold of Indra's feet and drug him into the main room. Then the Prime Minister and last the skin suit. Next came the things on the shelves and hung up.

Astrid had only been half-listening as she directed the other two women. Finally, the closet was ready to be occupied for the imminent torpedo. The Doctor's voice was calm but firm, "Mickey the Idiot. The world is in your hands. Fire."

Mickey still helped, a steady beeping in the background that was slowly increasing in frequency. "It's on radar. Counter defense 556."

The Doctor was insistent. "Stop them intercepting it."

"I'm doing it now."

"Good boy."

"556 neutralized."

The Doctor ripped the mobile off speaker phone as he ran into the closet to hide with Harriet and the girls. It wasn't much of a chance, but it was all they had. Plus, Astrid was the one organizing it, so the odds went up considerably. As soon as they were all inside, Astrid shut the door tightly. All four of them were crouched in the corner, the Doctor and Rose in the middle with Harriet and Astrid on either side, Astrid next to the Doctor.

An alarm started to sound soon afterward.

Harriet had them all clasp hands. "Nice knowing all of you."

They braced themselves as best they could.

The missile hit.

The whole of 10 Downing Street exploded into flames. Then they were in for the ride of their lives. It was even worse than the TARDIS or any roller coaster that Astrid could think of—she hated all of them. They were quite literally shaken every which-a-way as the closet went end-over-end. They were tossed against every surface in the closet, including each other. Astrid held her breath as much as she could, trying to steel herself, but it never worked on roller coasters, why would it work in a roller-coaster-closet?

Then it stopped. Astrid took a deep breath and struggled not to throwup. _Crap, I think I've got a concussion. Why is it I'm the one who gets hurt?_

The Doctor managed to get the door open and Harriet was the first through. She looked around at all the smoking wreckage and exclaimed proudly, "Made in Britain." A sergeant came running over, asking if they were alright. Harriet took control of the situation handily, flashing her badge again. "Harriet Jones. MP, Flydale North. I want you to contact UN immediately, tell the ambassadors the crisis is over and they can step down. Go on, tell the news!" He nodded quickly, made a sketchy salute and hurried away. "Someone's got a hell of a job sorting this lot out. Oh, Lord! We haven't even got a Prime Minister!"

The Doctor's voice was going a bit fuzzy to her ears. _How can noise be fuzzy? Is it like peaches? _"Well, maybe you should have a go."

Harriet grinned, "Me?" laughed. "I'm only a back-bencher."

Rose was smiling in encouragement. "I'd vote for ya!"

"Now, don't be silly." Rose and the Doctor both grin at Harriet. "Look, I'd better go and see if I can help." She climbed over the rubble towards the crowd of people. "Hang on!" She started to shout over to the crowd. "The Earth is safe! Sergeant!"

The Doctor grinned at Rose. "I thought I knew the name. Harriet Jones—future Prime Minister. Elected for three successive terms…the architect of Britain's Golden Age."

The Doctor and Rose both then noticed that Astrid hadn't moved from her spot leaning against the doorframe of the previously-spotless closet of the Cabinet Room. The brunette looked quite green and was holding her head. "Astrid?" The girl looked at them both before bending over and finally lost the battle with her stomach.

Her eyes fluttered up to them as Rose rushed to her side and helped to hold her up. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and used it to quickly diagnose what was wrong. "She has a mild concussion. We need to get her talking and back to the TARDIS." Rose nodded as the Doctor got onto Astrid's other side and they began the walk back to the Powell Estate.

Astrid giggled slightly, her speech was slurred as she began to go from one random thought to another. Her brain had always been…interesting. What with her ADD fueling so many interests so that she knew a little bit about a lot of things. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space." Astrid looked up at the Doctor and grinned, "I like her a lot, you know. She's my favorite."

He frowned down at her. "Who?"

"Sexy!" His gaze shot to Rose, but the blond was just as clueless as he was. He almost asked, but before he could, Astrid was on again. "Not that you aren't sexy, 'cause you SO are…I always liked Ten. Nine was the bestest Doctor until I met Ten." Now he knew what she was talking about and he almost wished he didn't. "'Course, then Ten goes away and Eleven is just so…" She seemed to have difficulty coming up with a word. "…he's flighty! Never sits still and hits himself. Who hits themselves? That's just silly. But I like Nine and Ten." She leaned further to the right, into the Doctor, as the world tilts on its axis in order to trip her. They were only halfway there. "You smell good. Did anyone tell you that you smell good? They should. You smell good." She nodded sagely.

Rose turned her wide eyes to the Doctor. "It's like she's drunk."

"Concussions do that. Same basic principle. Her inhibitions aren't lowered but the part of her brain that usually tells her not to say these things is down for the count. The interesting bit is she can't lie like this."

"Can too!" Astrid cut in between them. "But I just don't like to lie. It's messy. Too many things to keep track of. Oh!" She suddenly sobered and she began to cry. "I miss Julian! What if he's scared? Jackie said he just disappeared the day after we did! He could be dead. Or sick."

Fortunately for Rose and the Doctor, they had reached the TARDIS. They set her gently into the nearest bed in the medical bay as the brunette kept rambling. The Doctor was quick and efficient as he pulled out a panel in the wall by the bed and pulled out a small patch about the size of his thumbnail. He ripped off the backing and carefully placed it on Astrid's right temple. "There. Give it a couple seconds."

Astrid's thoughts slowly came into proper focus, the world having quit moving beneath her feet and her head quit doing a tilt-a-whirl. She looked up into the smiling, laughing faces of Rose and the Doctor, remembered what she had said, and blushed hotly. "Oh god. I'm so sorry."

* * *

><p>Rose and Astrid enter the Tyler flat and Jackie rushed over to them and gave each a huge hug. Astrid was first and watched with a smile as Rose and Jackie held onto each other longer, happy to be together.<p>

Rose settles into the armchair in front of the TV to watch Harriet Jones' speech. Astrid moved to the guest bedroom where all her personal stuff was in boxes. She heard Jackie in the background as she pulled out her Time Lord purse from when she had grabbed it in the TARDIS after her concussion was healed, and began to stuff in all of the contents of the box labeled 'Astrid's clothes', 'Astrid's bathroom', and after a few hesitant seconds 'Julian's box'. _I'll find you, baby. I'll sneak you on board if I have to!_

Rose came into the room as Astrid was getting the final stuff into her bag. Rose had her backpack over one shoulder, stuffed to the brim.

Jackie was right behind and quietly said to the two of them, "Don't go, sweethearts. Please don't go."

Rose and Astrid shared a glance, then Astrid drew the ties closed on her purse and slung it across her chest. As a pair, they went out of the room, down the hall, and out of the flat. Jackie was right behind them, following closely. Jackie was pleading with the two of them, but mostly to Rose, to get them to stay. "I'll get a proper job. I'll work weekends, I'll pass my test and if Jim comes round again, I'll say no. I really will."

The younger blond gave her mother a solemn look. "I'm not leaving 'cause of you. I'm travelling, that's all. And then I'll come back!"

"But it's not safe."

"Mum...if you saw it out there...you'd never stay home."

Astrid gave a long look to Jackie and spoke just as solemnly as Rose. "I'll protect her, Jackie. With everything I have. I'll take care of her."

She said this as Rose went to the Doctor and shoved it into her arms. "Last time I stepped in there, it was spur of the moment. Now I'm signing up. You're stuck with me and Astrid. Hah!" Rose went up to Mickey as Jackie looked the Doctor up and down. "Come with us. There's plenty of room."

The Doctor spoke up, but his heart wasn't in what he said. At least it sounded that way to Astrid's ears. Rose seemed to buy it though. "No chance, he's ah, a liability, I'm not having him on board."

Rose glared at the Doctor. "We'd be dead without him."

"My decision is final."

Rose turned back to Mickey. "Sorry." They kissed briefly and as Rose backed away, Mickey gave a small wave and wished them all luck.

Then Jackie started again, rounding on the Doctor. "You still can't promise me. What if she gets lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and she's left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away—how long do I wait then?"

The Doctor stood there hugging Rose's backpack, not really having an answer, but Rose came to his rescue. "Mum…" Jackie turned to her daughter. "You're forgetting - it's a time machine. I could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and by the time I get back, yeah - ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds." Rose smiled at her mother kindly as she put her hands on Jackie's shoulders. "So stop worrying. See you in ten seconds time. Hmm?"

She hugged her. The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS. Rose and Astrid follow him. Mickey gives a small wave and Rose shuts the door, leaving Mickey and Jackie alone outside.

Astrid was suddenly bowled over by a golden blur of fur. "Julian!" She laughed in delight as Julian was right there as if he had never left, trying to lick her to death. She looked up into the Doctor's eyes, hers filled with gratitude and happiness. Of all the things he had done, this was the best. It outshined all others to her eyes and heart. _I can never repay him._ Still petting her lovely dog, she saw Rose was grinning just as big as the Doctor was. "Thank you."

"Just don't make this place domestic!"

* * *

><p><em>Lots of dialogue this chapter, not much scenery change. Not much I can do about that. Well, what do you think? Reviews are love! If I don't get any reviews, how do I know that Astrid is loved?<em>


	7. Dalek

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 7: Dalek**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: Do I look like a millionaire? Then quit asking! I do own Astrid, though. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** Beta is on vacation. All mistakes are mine.

**AN2:** A big 'Thank you!' goes out to quidditchandsonicscrewdrivers. She is a Scot who helped me with all the Brit slang in this chapter and figured out that a scone and a biscuit were the almost the same thing, plus introducing me to the crumpet.

_Astrid's thoughts_

* * *

><p>Astrid was dancing in the TARDIS kitchen, Julian laying on his side on the cool floor, and humming 'Fireflies' by Owl City. It was about a month since the Slitheen incident—at least according to her internal calendar, it was hard to tell inside a time machine—and she was finally getting the chance to follow through with her threat. She was making a traditional Southern American breakfast.<p>

The TARDIS was apparently in on the plan with her, which was a little odd. The last trip had been to 1998 Ohio to help a lost kid from another planet she couldn't pronounce get back to its mother. They had landed right next to Wal-Mart. With a huge grin and a pick-pocket later to grab the credit card, Astrid was in the huge shopping center grabbing everything she had ever hoped to need to make a wonderful breakfast. She even got a griddle and waffle-iron.

The Pillsbury 'Flaky' biscuits were in the oven—_and how odd was it that a coral themed kitchen could have a normal electric oven?_—while the griddle was on the nearest counter cooking pancakes. The pancake recipe was actually from scratch, a testament to her mother, who used no recipe to begin with. It consisted of 'this look right', 'a dash of salt', 'a bit more sugar', and 'add milk and stir until sloppy'. The only reason she knew exactly what to do was that she had watched her mother use it uncountable times and could do it in her sleep.

On top of the gas stove—_again, how weird that the TARDIS has a gas stove…but that does imply that it's a gas I know of_—was a skillet with scrambled eggs. A bowl of shredded mozzarella and Colby cheese was to the side ready to add to the eggs when it was time. The extra crispy bacon was already done and in a serving plate—on top of a paper towel to get rid of the excess grease—on the dining table.

The table actually matched the theme, it was coral colored and seemed to grow out of the floor. Also on the table was both butter and margarine, honey, grape and strawberry jam, maple and ''s' syrup, and all the place settings for three people.

Breakfast was almost ready, which is why she was wasting time dancing and singing.

Her voice rang out softly but strongly as she stirred the eggs, trying to get just the right consistency. She was actually very good, but an incident when she was a child had made her very nervous singing in front of anyone. "'Cause I'd get a thousand hugs / from ten thousand lightning bugs / as they tried to teach me how to dance" she twirled as she laughed. Julian gave a small 'yip' from his spot, tail wagging. Her smiled was bright, uninhibited as she responded to his encouragement and sang louder. "A fox trot above my head / a sock hop beneath my bed / a disco ball is just hanging by a thread" she tilted the cheese into the eggs, turned off the burner, and lifted the pan to allow the still-melting cheesy-egg mixture to go into the serving bowl. She placed the bowl on the table. Just the pancakes left. She laughed again, gaily, and continued to sing, this time at full volume due to the sweet face of her loyal golden companion. "I'd like to make myself believe / that planet Earth turns slowly" she twirled again, her eyes closed while the smile on her face never diminished "it's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep / 'cause everything is never as it seeeems…"

The red apron she was wearing that said 'Queen of the Kitchen' flew as she danced in a circular path to the griddle and began to flip the last of the pancakes. "Leave my door open just a crack / 'cause I feel like such an insomniac" The pancakes went into the serving dish and the last of the batch of batter went onto the griddle. "why do I tire of counting sheep / when I'm too tired to fall asleep" Pancakes were finicky, they took a little bit longer on one side than on the other, so she had time to dance again, eyes closed in delight. "To ten million fireflies, I'm weird 'cause I hate goodbyes / I got misty eyes as they said 'farewell' / but I'll know where several are if my dreams get real bizarre / 'cause I say if you and I keep them in a jar" She flipped the pancakes and closed her eyes and she twirled again. "I'd like to make myself believe / that planet Earth turns slowly" she let her fingers swirl around in a slow circular pattern to make the lyrics "it's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep / 'cause everything is never as it seeeems…" The last of the pancakes went onto the serving plate and as she made her way to place the plate on the table her voice went back to a quiet gentle chime as she finished the song, skipping a few chorus lines due to time. "I'd like to make myself believe / that planet Earth turns slowly / it's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep / 'cause my dreams are bursting out the seams." _Now time to wake up Ro—_

Her thoughts were abruptly blown off course as two hands clapping came to her ears. Her head jerked to the hallway behind her to see the Doctor and Rose, both clapping enthusiastically and grinning ear-to-ear. Astrid blushed scarlet and hid her face in embarrassment, but even Julian seemed to be against her as his tail thumped rhythmically on the floor in time to their clapping.

"Breakfast and a show. Fantastic!" The Doctor came completely into the kitchen/dining room and sat at his place at the table. Rose went to Astrid, who was still hiding behind her shoulder-length brown hair. The blond was grinning as she untied the apron and stashed it on a random counter and pulled her friend to a seat. Then Rose took her own seat.

Rose did take pity though, knowing exactly why Astrid was so shy about her singing—that had been one drunk night in Astrid's flat for confessions—and decided to ask, "What is all this?"

Astrid grinned up at her friend, her embarrassment momentarily forgotten. "Breakfast! REAL breakfast. Those're biscuits; you eat them with butter and honey or butter and jam." She began to point as she spoke. "Cheesy eggs and extra crispy bacon that doesn't flop around. And finally pancakes, made like my mother's, that are eaten with butter and syrup. Not fruit like crumpets." She shivered in disgust. "Well, you CAN eat them with fruit, but its fresh fruit and whipped cream. You generally leave off the butter and syrup for those kind of pancakes. I forgot both fruit and whipped cream, we can try that next time."

The Doctor was already serving his plate, his face still having a grin when a thought occurred to him. "I thought I told you no domestics?"

Astrid gave him a smile that made him raise his eyebrow at its evilness. She held up her fingers as she began to tick off reasons. "One, the TARDIS helped me, so it's not really domestic. Two, this is payment in return for letting me keep Julian here. Three, you have HORRIBLE breakfast stuff here, I decided it was about time to show you two what biscuits are supposed to taste like." As much as she had spent the last year and change in England, she had never gotten used to their idea of what breakfast should be and had made herself breakfast for all that time.

He raised his other eyebrow to match the first. Over the last month or so, Astrid had gone back to the way she had been between The Breakdown and the Slitheen incident, no longer looking over her shoulder, no longer afraid. This personality of hers that came out when she didn't have to worry over keeping people alive had been able to stay for a long while. Three weeks and counting. He liked it too. He fancied her a little this way. Her attitude was so carefree, even after what she had seen and experienced, what she knew could happen soon, he was a bit jealous. But then, she was only human—and he had to give her credit, the food was very good. Since when did he have a gas stove?

Rose bit into a biscuit that dripped with butter and honey and her eyes popped open. Astrid was avidly watching her face and smiled in happy triumph. Her American accent came through loud and clear as she said in a sing-song tone."Told ya' so."

* * *

><p>The Doctor was the first out of the TARDIS, as always, Rose just behind him. Astrid brought up the rear almost every time, since she spent the last few seconds reassuring Julian that she would indeed be back soon. She kissed his forehead goodbye and pulled the door to the TARDIS shut, locking it. Then she turned around and froze.<p>

The Doctor had just turned on the lights with a switch on the far wall, illuminating the alien museum of Henry Van Statten. Cases upon cases of alien parts, pieces and plugs. Glass and proximity alarms all encasing the exhibits.

Rose was surprised and a little awed by the sight. "Blimey! It's a great big museum!"

The Doctor and Rose were carrying on a conversation about the uniqueness of the artifacts while Astrid was having a very mild breakdown. _I'm not ready for this! Not again. This is Van Statten's museum, which means the Dalek is here. Oh god, so many people are going to die. What can I do? So much of the deaths were caused by Van Statten himself, because he was too stubborn and stupid to let his people retreat. What if—_

Her thoughts were derailed when she caught sight of the Doctor about to touch the glass case of an old Cyberman. She yelled out to him, horror in her voice as she reached out as if to stop him, even though she was several feet away. "NO!" It was too late though. An alarm went off insistently and they were quickly surrounded by soldiers in black gear, all of them pointing their guns directly at the intruders.

The Doctor couldn't take his eyes off of Astrid's face. The walls that had drifted down over the last month were back up with reinforcements. She had steeled herself against whatever she knew was coming. Her crystal sky blue eyes were trying to communicate with him. Whatever was going to happen, it was bad. The horror and fear in her voice when she had screamed said that all by itself, but the look in her eyes let him know that whatever he could imagine, whatever he could guess…it was much worse than that.

Rose by his side commented quietly. "If someone's collecting aliens, that makes you Exhibit A."

He glanced at Rose and gave the surrounding soldiers a small grin.

* * *

><p>The Doctor and Rose were in front of Astrid as they were led to Van Statten's exclusive office. The more she remembered of the episode, the more she wanted to punch the asshole. Which was why she was behind the Doctor. Of all the people to stop her from doing something stupid, it would be him.<p>

Behind Van Statten—_and he looks just as much like an asshole as the actor that played him, I wonder how that works? The Doctor looks like Christopher Eccelston too. Weird.—_there was a portrait of him or his father, along with two flags, one the American Flag on the right, and the other was probably the Utah State Flag on the left. The office was lined with beautiful things around the walls and gorgeous computer screens on the glass-topped desk. The lamps placed strategically were a little odd, but no less pretty. _All the more to hide how much of a tool he is._

Van Statten was talking to Adam when they entered. "What does it do?" He took the instrument from the English kid as Adam explained as best as he could with his limited experience in the field of alien interaction.

"Well you see, the tubes on the side must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel..." _Wow, his voice is even more annoying in person than on the show. How interesting. NOT! How the hell can we get out of here without waking up that damn Dalek?_

The Doctor was trying to be helpful. "I really wouldn't hold it like that."

Diana Goddard—_actually not a bad lady, just in with the wrong crowd, she has a really good head on her shoulders_—snapped at him. "Shut it."

Astrid piped up from behind. Around listening to so many American accents, hers was bound to come back. It wasn't like she had much control over it; it came and went as it pleased, conforming to what it heard unless she was under stress. _Though, this situation does count as stress, doesn't it? There is an alien beneath me that is about to eliminate the entirety of this complex's population._ "Yes, please Doctor. Shut it."

He turned back to look at her in surprise. Of all the time they had spent together, she had never spoken to him like this. There had to be a reason, but all he could see in her eyes was hatred. She didn't take her eyes off of the gentleman that seemed to be in charge. As far as he knew, the best way out of this situation that they had found themselves in was to be helpful. It worked more times than not. He faced back to the man sitting behind the desk. "Really, though, that's wrong."

Adam was curious. "Is it dangerous?"

"No. Just looks silly." He smiled gently, trying to offset the glare of anger that Astrid was sending the boss's way. He held out his hand for the artifact. The security clicked off their safety and pointed their guns at the Doctor again. He froze and gave a look to the man in charge, who in turn held up a finger for them to stop as he got up to hand the object to the Doctor.

The Doctor took it firmly in his left hand. "You just need to be..." He ran his fingers ever so gently over the artifact's ridges and a musical tune that sounded kind of like a harmonica began to come out of the object. "…delicate." He grinned up at the man in charge, who looked mildly impressed. Rose was a little awed by his elbow. Astrid hadn't taken her eyes off of the brunette American male.

"It's a musical instrument!" The man said with a little awe.

The Doctor nodded. "And it's a long way from home."

The man reached over and snatched the instrument from the Doctor. "Here, let me."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. "I did say 'delicate'. Reacts to the smallest fingerprint." At first, the man can't play at all, only getting a discordant trill that has Astrid making her first different expression since entering the room, even if it is a wince. "It needs precision." It took a few more seconds before the man got the hang of it and was able to replicate the same notes as the Doctor had previously. The Doctor smiles encouragingly. "Very good. Quite the expert."

"As are you." The man tosses the instrument aside as if it were trash. _Well, to Van Statten, anything not a weapon is useless. _The Doctor and Adam follow its course with their eyes, alarmed at such a display of flippancy. "Who exactly are you?"

The Doctor was starting to get a hint of why Astrid was glaring so furiously at the man. He was getting a disdainful look in his own eyes, he knew, as he answered. "I'm the Doctor. And who are you?"

"I know your name, that's what she called you." He gave a significant glance to Astrid. "Like you don't know who I am! We're hidden away with the most valuable collection of extra-terrestrial artifacts in the world and you just stumbled in by mistake!" The man's voice was very much with the disbelieving.

The Doctor of course was grinning as he nodded. "Pretty much sums me up, yeah."

Now, the man came around the desk to be directly in front of the group of intruders. "The question is, how did you get in? 53 floors down. With your little cat burglar accomplices." He looked at the girls, before focusing on Rose. "Quite a collector yourself, she's rather pretty."

Rose was about to answer in the negative when Astrid grabbed Rose's hand and tugged her behind. She gave a look to Rose telling her to keep quiet as she faced the asshole. "If you hurt my sister, I will kill you with a song in my heart."

Both Rose and the Doctor turned wide disbelieving eyes to their friend. But she was so different than she had been just that morning. Gone was the carefree attitude and warm nature and pure, sweet voice. Her shoulders were set in determination and anger. Her eyes were cold and dead. Her voice was hard as stone and frigid, but completely American in her accent.

The man in charge waved away the guns that had repositioned themselves to the brunette girl. "And who are you?" He wasn't really intimidated by this little five foot three inch child that he towered over, he had been threatened before. The fact that she was doing it in his face with guns pointed at her, in his very office after breaking in. That was interesting.

Astrid thought quickly. There was no way she was giving her real name to his man. She was almost 99% positive that she didn't exist in this world, but there was always that 1% chance. If this man got ahold of her parents, she would never forgive herself. _There's an idea. I was adopted. Let's give him…_ "Angel." It wasn't actually that far from the truth. She missed the surprised glance that Rose threw her; Rose knew exactly what that name meant.

"Your friends don't seem to know you."

"They've never seen me angry. You are the embodiment of everything I despise. My childhood was a living hell because of people like you and you outshine them all. I wouldn't be surprised if demons made notes watching you, helping themselves get better at torturing others and manipulating people to get what you want."

The Doctor's eyes were widening with every breath she took to keep talking. This was on the worse side of what he had thought with this trip, torture was always at the bottom of his list of hoping what things were for rescue missions. But the depth of her hatred was just hitting him blind-sided. The girl that had made him breakfast was completely gone. In her place, was a person he had never met. He had caught a glimpse, he thought, on Platform One when Cassandra had threatened Rose, but this…and then he understood. This was the person that Astrid became when she was protecting her family, Rose in particular, and she didn't think the Doctor could help her this time. She was controlling, cold-hearted, and harsh. Also fiercely protective for those she cared about as she tried to make things right again. She would do anything and everything she had to to protect her family. Just. Like. Him.

Adam butted into the staring contest between a girl and his boss. "This is Mr. Henry Van Statten." His tone suggested that he didn't think the girl knew. How could she talk like that to this man?

Angel's eyes briefly moved to Adam. "IDGARA." She focused back on Van Statten. "I Don't Give A Rat's Ass. Let me give you my last friendly warning, Mr. Van Statten. Let us go. You will never hear from us again and your little world will keep on spinning. If you don't, I promise you, that if you survive the night, you will be very very lucky to remember your own name." She saw how much disbelief Van Statten held in his eyes, but she really didn't care. Her loyalty was to Rose and the Doctor. This man didn't deserve anything else.

Van Statten seemed to understand that she was finished speaking, so he turned his attention back to the Doctor. "I captured you right next to the Cage. What were you doing down there? The Cage contains my one living specimen."

"And what's that?" The Doctor's tone was flat.

"Like you don't know."

"Show me."

"You wanna see it?"

Rose spoke up, "Blimey, you can smell the testosterone." She winced at the tightening of Astr—Angel's grip on her arm.

"She's English! Hey, Little Lord Fauntleroy! Got you a girlfriend." Adam drew himself up a bit at the statement. Then Van Statten was back to the Doctor. "Goddard - inform the Cage. We're heading down." The woman nodded. Van Statten gave a glance back to Adam. "You, English, look after the girls. Go and canoodle or spoon, or whatever it is you British do. And you, Doctor-With-No-Name," he was by the elevator, typing into it a musical code. "come and see my pet."

With her eyes alone, Angel gave the Doctor a look that screamed 'Be careful!'. He nodded and disappeared. She knew if they got out of this alive, she would hug him tightly to be sure that he was actually living. She hated being like this, but she knew—_god do I know—_that this was going to end all kinds of badly. She never had been much for praying, despite her first family's weekly trial to go to church, sometimes a different one every week. But for this occasion, she'd make an exception. _Please, God. If you really are out there…please, let us get out of this alive. Whatever you want to be called, I don't care. God, Allah, Rassilon…just get us all through this safely. Please._

* * *

><p>They went to Adam's workshop. Angel recognized the look in Adam's eyes, she had seen it in his eyes on the episode too, but one glare at him made him flinch. <em>He's not coming with us if I can help it. What he does in 'Long Game'…he's only a little better than Van Statten. Just as manipulative and selfish.<em> It was a crowd of knick-knacks, broken items, and lots of metal shelves with bits and pieces of odds and ends.

Adam was trying to get on Angel's good side so that he could get close to Rose. He had been trying the entire way up, but Angel just glared at him and kept a tight grip on Rose's hand. Rose seemed to understand why though and didn't say anything. "Sorry about the mess. Mr. Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing. So long as I deliver the goods." Rose poked a few things around the room, Angel at her side. "What do you think…that is?" He handed Rose an object no bigger than his palms.

Rose was hesitant. "Er...a lump of metal?" she didn't feel a squeeze of warning from Angel, so felt safer to talk more freely.

"Yeah. Yeah, but I think-well, I'm almost certain—it's from the hull of a spacecraft." Rose finished looking over the hunk of metal and placed it down carefully on top of a pile of junk. "The thing is; it's all true. Everything the United Nations tries to keep quiet—spacecraft, aliens, visitors to Earth. They really exist."

Rose tried really hard to sound impressed or awed, but was only partly successful. "That's amazing."

He was smart enough to hear it in her voice. "I know it sounds incredible, but I honestly believe that the whole universe is teeming with life."

Rose smiled at him slightly. "I'm gob-smacked, yeah. And you do what? Sit here and catalogue it?"

He frowned even as he smiled. "Best job in the world!"

"Imagine if you could get out there. Travel amongst the stars and see it for real." Now she did wince at Angel's grip on her hand. _There is NO way he's coming with us!_

Adam missed the exchange. "Yeah... I'd give anything. But I don't think it's ever gonna happen - not in our lifetimes."

"So, how'd you end up here?" Rose was still curious. She knew that Astrid/Angel had a good reason for being so against Van Statten and Adam, but that didn't mean she couldn't admire from afar, could it? Astrid had the Doctor, and Mickey wasn't coming on their trips, it was time for her to find a new boyfriend of her own.

"Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit."

"Ah, right, you're a genius."

"Sorry, but yeah...can't help it, I was born clever."

Rose smiled but Astrid/Angel sneered. She spoke directly to Adam for the first time since her Patch Adams quote. "Get in line, boyo. My IQ is higher than yours." _Only when I'm on my ADD medicine, but he doesn't need to know that, the wanker. I just thought 'wanker' as an insult. I really have been hanging out with Brits too long…of course, if this is the American choice I have to pick from, I'll take the Brits. When is Jack going to show up? He's American…sorta._

Now he was offended and tried to uphold his male need to prove himself worthy. "When I was eight, I logged onto the US Defense System. Nearly caused World War Three."

Angel rolled her eyes. "I'd rather not have to choose between going to jail, working for the government, or working for Van Statten."**  
><strong>  
>"Well you should've been there! Just to see them running about! Fantastic!"<p>

Rose spoke up between them, trying to cut the tension. "You sound like the Doctor."

Angel glared at Adam intensely. "One word does not a Doctor make."

Adam decided to ignore the brunette in favor of the blond. "Are you and him...?"

Rose was quick to deny it, "No, we're just friends." She wasn't going to ruin a month and a half worth of maneuvering Astrid and the Doctor together.

Adam nodded with a straight face. "Good."

Rose was a little shy as she smiled at him. "Why's that good?" She got another warning squeeze from Astrid/Angel.

"Just is."

Rose understood the gesture from her sister and decided to change the topic of conversation. "So...wouldn't you rather be downstairs? I mean, you've got these bits of metal and stuff, but Mr. Van Statten's got a living creature down there."

"Yeah...yeah well I did ask but he keeps it to himself. Although…if you're a genius…it doesn't take long to patch in on the comm system." _Great, now he's trying to impress her. Shit and shineola._

Though Rose wasn't as interested in Adam as she appeared to be, she still wanted to see if she could help the alien that was giving out the distress signal. She laughed flirtatiously to keep up the illusion to Adam. "Let's have a look, then."

Adam went to the computer on what seemed to be the main desk and tapped some keys. Rose observed over his shoulder. "It doesn't do much - the alien. It's weird; it's kind of...useless. It's just like this great big pepper pot."

On the computer screen flashes up the security video that watches the Cage. They all watched as Simmons approached the Dalek and began to drill into the thing. The Dalek began to scream.

Rose was alarmed and demanded of Adam. "It's being tortured! Where's the Doctor?"

"I don't know."

"Take me down there. Now." She strided from the room, Astrid/Angel by her side.

Angel leaned over and hissed softly into her ear. "Stick to me like glue and whatever you do, don't touch that thing. Promise me." She felt Rose nod against her cheek. "Good. And stay clear of Adam. You don't know how close we are to being killed, Rose. If I tell you, run as fast as you can to the Doctor. He'll keep you safe." Rose's brown eyes widened at that statement. What could be here that Astrid was so concerned for her safety that she would sacrifice herself?

* * *

><p>They were right outside of the Cage, walking into the Dalek's cell. <em>Oh god, I can't believe I'm doing this. Yes I can. Rose needs me. <em>Adam was going through the lobby outside the Cage first, then Rose and Astrid was bringing up the rear.

Some peon yelled at them to stop but Adam flashed a badge their way and called out, "Level three access. Special clearance from Mr. Van Statten." _I'm not even sure that they had time to read that badge. Bloody idiots. Well, of course they're idiots, they work for Van Statten!_ They enter the Cage and Adam hangs back as if afraid. All he said was, "Don't get too close."

Astrid/Angel keeps a tight grip on Rose's arm as she slowly starts to walk towards the Dalek. Astrid kept Rose from going too far into the room, definitely not close enough to touch it. But Rose had a very kind heart, and her soul was pure. _Not like mine._ Rose, while hesitant because of Astrid's warning, still addressed the Dalek. She would treat the alien like a friend until proven otherwise. "Hello." The blue glow of the eyestalk just watched the blond, no other reaction. So she continued. "Are you in pain? My name's Rose Tyler. I've got a friend, he can help. He's called the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Yes." Astrid winced at the harshness of the voice and dropped Rose's hand to cup her ears. Rose moves closer to better see and let the alien see her. _If every damn alien is going to provoke this reaction in me, then I need to either fix my hearing like my eyes, or I need to start wearing earmuffs!_

"What?" Rose didn't understand.

The Dalek raised its eyestalk to better be able to look her in the face. It spoke slowly, wearily. It wanted to be misunderstood by the kind human friends with the Doctor. "I am in pain. They torture me, but still they fear me. Do you fear me?"

Rose shook her head slightly. "No."

The Dalek lowered its eyestalk as if it was tired. "I am dying."

"No, we can help!" Rose doesn't understand Astrid's mistrust of the creature. It was so helpless.

"I welcome death. But I am glad...that before I die...I met a human who was not afraid." _Rose, stop encouraging it to talk…please. Oooww._

Rose just stood there, overwhelmed by the pity her pure soul and sweet personality, and asked gently. "Isn't there anything I can do?"

"My race is dead. I shall die alone." It let its eyestalk lower more.

Rose is so moved that she has tears in her eyes. She reaches out and Astrid moves, heedless of the noise of the Dalek in her ears. "NO!" Astrid grabbed a hold of Rose's shirt and yanked backward, pulling the blond off her feet and the momentum shoved her into Adam's chest. But Astrid forgot about Newton's Third Law of Motion. As Rose was pulled backward, Astrid was tossing herself forward. Right into the Dalek. _Oh no...please, no._

The place where Astrid had landed, where her hand, the back of her arm, and her neck had touched the Dalek began to burn. As she got to her feet as quickly as she could and was across the room, dragging Rose with her, she saw out of the corner of her eye that the places where she had touched it were suddenly bright orange. The Dalek's tone changed into one even more harsh. "Genetic material extrapolated - initiate cellular reconstruction!" It burst out of its chains with a new lease of life. Sparks flew from it. Simmons entered the room as, with her hand firmly around Rose's wrist, Astrid literally ran from the room. She barely heard Simmons ask a question and she heard a cracking sound.

The intercom burst into life, "Condition red! Repeat, condition red! This is not a drill!"

Rose tried to slow down but Astrid kept pulling. The brunette looked back briefly as a call came to 'open fire' and lots of gunshots sounded. "Keep going, Rose. We have to get to the Doctor." Her words came out relatively calm and she was happy that she could. After a month and change with the Doctor, she could now run and talk—albeit briefly—at the same time.

The Doctor's voice came over the intercom system, agreeing with Astrid. "Rose! Astrid, get out of there!"

They acquired a tag-along soldier, a female. Astrid looked at her and gave her a solemn stare as they retreated. "If you want to live, run as fast and as long as you can." Not long after that, the Cage was abandoned.

They ran. Goddard came over the comm system. "All guards to converge in the Metaltron cage, immediately." Their soldier—_I don't remember her name—_look at them, but kept going, guarding the civilian retreat as ordered. They ran through corridors and then another bunch of security guards. Their soldier called out, "Civilians! Let them through!" Astrid had no idea where Adam was at this point, and could care less. Her job was to get Rose out alive. That was all she really wanted. _This is my fault. I woke it up. If I hadn't ran into it…_

Van Statten, the giant asshole, was on the intercom next. "I don't want a scratch on its body work! Do you hear me? Do you hear me?"

Astrid felt tears try to come, but she just kept running. She knew the soldiers were all dead. With no Doctor and no weapons, all they could do was run. They arrive at a flight of stairs. _Oh, I remember this part. _"Don't stop running! Keep going."

Rose tried to pause again, but Astrid kept a firm grip and literally pulled her sister up the stairs. "It hasn't got legs, it's stuck!"

Astrid didn't bother to shake her head. They didn't have the time. "It's fully regenerated by now. It can fly."

The soldier raised up wide horrified eyes at the brunette. "What?"

"It can fly! Now RUN!"

They all ran up the stairs. It was only after a few seconds that Astrid realized that the brave soldier had stayed behind. She was buying them time. The soldier looked up at them and realized they weren't running. "Don't look back, just run!"

Moments after they had run up the stairs and were working their way down the corridor, they heard the sound of the Dalek's exterminator bean and the soldier scream. _God, whoever you are, if there is anyone looking out for us, let her rest in peace. She deserves it._ Astrid was running side-by-side with Rose, both of them actively clutching each other's hands in terror. Another set of footsteps followed them, but Astrid didn't bother turning around to see who. _Probably Adam._

As they ran, the sweet sound of the Doctor's voice finally announced, "The Dalek's surrounded by a force field. The bullets are melting before they even hit home but it's not indestructible. If you concentrate your fire, you might get through. Aim for the dome, the head, the eyepiece. That's the weak spot."

But Astrid knew the commander wouldn't listen. She didn't even slow down when they ran through the soldiers positioned in the warehouse strategically. She completely ignored the commander yelling 'hold fire', simply yanking on Rose's hand and continuing to run. "Go, Rose. Run!" Rose turned fear-filled eyes to her friend. It only took a few seconds, but Astrid pushed her. "RUN!"

The commander called out to Astrid, "Get the hell out of there!"

The Dalek came into view and positioned its eyestalk toward the corridor where Astrid was standing, looking at it. They had a stare down. Before either could be a winner, though, Rose appeared again, yanked Astrid by her closest arm, and they were running again. _If it got my DNA material like it did Rose's in the episode, it will start to feel. My biggest feeling when I touched it was protecting Rose…good, then at least she is safe. It won't harm Rose, as long as I keep it away from her long enough so that the DNA can do its work. So, back to the running._

* * *

><p>The Doctor had gotten the brilliant idea of phoning Rose on her super-phone. Astrid had to let go of Rose so that she could climb the stairs, hold the mobile, and talk at the same time. "This isn't the best time…Level 49…Can't you stop them closing?" Astrid grabbed her other hand, she knew what was going on, and if she had to, she would use Newton's Third Law of Motion in her favor.<p>

They ran down the corridor on the 46th floor. Adam hadn't waited for them—_I didn't expect him to, the wanker_—Rose was next in the line, with Astrid bringing up the rear, still clutching Rose's hand tightly. She knew enough about physics from her father that she was already thinking of how to sling-shot Rose past the bulkheads if they didn't make it in time.

Rose was still talking on the cell. "We're nearly there. Give us two seconds." The alarm begins to sound. They round the corner, just close enough from Astrid urging them ever onwards that Adam was able to clear the bulkhead when it was half way down. Astrid's heart was in her throat, she knew that there was no way both of them could make it. _I choose Rose._

It was a move that any Olympic shot-put thrower would be proud of. Astrid, using the hand that she clutched Rose with, put all of her weight, inertia, and momentum into a yo-yo like move, almost throwing Rose past the bulkhead right in a rolling, sliding sling-shot throw as it slammed into the ground. Since it was a rolling motion, Astrid hit the bulkhead herself a split second later, but it was too late. She was stuck on different sides.

Astrid let herself slide down the bulkhead door as she regained her breath. She doesn't even have the phone to call and hear the Doctor's voice one last time. _I would've like that. I really do like him. Even as Eleven, though that one's a little annoying, I still like him. I would say that I love him, but well…Not yet. Maybe by the time Jack would've showed up…well, time to face the music._ She turned around slowly around to face the Dalek as it came down the corridor. She couldn't watch, turning her head to the side and closing her eyes as it yelled at her. "Exterminate!"

Astrid looked up at the Dalek. _Huh, I forgot about this part._ "I'm sorry."

"I feel your fear."

"I know."

"Daleks do not fear. Must not fear." It shot its death ray wildly at the wall on either side of Astrid. The Dalek sounded slightly hysterical and scared. "You gave me life. What else have you given me? I am contaminated!"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It was all she could think to say.

The Dalek herded her at the point of its exterminator ray to face the security camera. For some odd reason, the camera also had a screen to show who—or what—you were being seen by, so she got to see the Doctor, even as the Dalek threatened her life. "Open the bulkhead or Astrid dies."

The Doctor's expression was a huge grin, as was Rose's behind him. The joy on both of their faces made Astrid smile. "You're alive!"

Astrid's smile vanished quickly when she heard Van Statten off screen ask about her name. She snarled viciously. "It's all your fault, Van Statten. They are all dead because of you. What the hell are you talking about my bloody name for?" She took a deep breath to calm herself before she focused back on the Doctor. "Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily? Rose, did I hurt you with that sling-shot maneuver? Are you alright?"

Rose nodded quickly. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You've got a Dalek behind you."

As if its name was a reminder, it shoved Astrid forward a few inches, making her wince at the death ray in the small of her back hitting and digging in too deep to the wrong nerve. "Open the bulkhead!"

"Don't do it, Doctor. We both know what will happen if it gets out like this." Astrid shook her head at him.

The Dalek was almost having an emotional moment, exasperation. "What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

She watched as the Doctor's face became a mask of shock and realization. She looked at the Dalek behind her. "He loves me?" she asked quietly, almost disbelievingly. _How can he love me? He loves Rose!_

The Dalek moves its eyestalk so that the blue light is directly in her face. "The Doctor loves you." _A Dalek with absolutely no emotions whatsoever can see that the Doctor loves me…which means that he really does. He loves me…he LOVES me…he loves ME…_ Her face split into a grin and she gave a great whooping laugh and danced on the spot, despite the Dalek. In a fit of complete idiocy, she reached back and hugged it tightly. "What are you doing?" It backed away as if afraid of such a simple thing, the bulkhead door opening slowly behind them.

"It's called a hug. Humans do it to express themselves. In this case, I was sharing my happiness." Astrid couldn't take the grin off of her face, even when the Dalek regained its composure and began to march her through the corridor beyond the bulkhead, its death ray aimed at the small of her back.

They got to an elevator and began the long trip to the surface. Astrid gave a sigh and looked at the Dalek. "You don't have to kill. I know you have my protective instincts, that's what I was feeling strongest when I touched you. So, protect the humans on this planet. You don't have to kill anymore. You didn't kill me."

The Dalek spun its eyepiece around to look at her so fast she has to duck out of the way to avoid having her eye poked out. "But why not? Why are you alive? My function is to kill. What am I? What am I?"

Astrid held back the tears threatening and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>The lift doors open and Van Statten is just standing there, waiting. <em>What the devil did he think he could do? Be a speed bump?<em>

If a person could glare with its voice, the Dalek was. "Van Statten. You tortured me. Why?" It advanced on the man, who was terrified beyond belief.

The coward backed away. _I wonder if he's peed his pants._ "I wanted to help you. I just…I don't know. I-I was just trying to help. I thought if we could get through to you, if we could mend you…I wanted you better, I'm sorry." The Dalek was still moving forward, forcing Van Statten to move backward and finally could go no further when he hit a wall. His voice could have broken a crystal glass, making Astrid cover her ears in pain. "I'm so sorry! I swear! I just wanted you to talk!"

"Then hear me talk now. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Astrid took this time to intercede, she gently put her hand on the Dalek and used the voice she dealt with Julian. "Don't kill him, Dalek. He's not worth it. Do you understand?" The Dalek spun to face her. Astrid looked right into its eyepiece. "You don't have to do this anymore. There must be something else, not just killing. What else is there? What do you want?"

The Dalek turned back to Van Statten, who winced in terror, but the eyestalk went back to Astrid's face. "I want…freedom."

Astrid gave it a motherly smile. "Then let's go breathe the open air. Together. Alright?"

They moved down the corridor and out into the Level 01 large communal area. _It's probably a parking garage. _Astrid was no longer being forced to walk with the Dalek, she did it freely. It needed her more than anything else at the moment. She doubted it knew the concept of friendship, but she also knew that it couldn't live with itself like this. It would die soon. The way it was right now was because of her. _As it said, I gave it life. I should see it depart._

The Dalek fired its beam at the ceiling, making a hole. Astrid flinched and dodged the falling debris, but saw the sunlight flood the room and shine directly on the Dalek. "You did it. You're out. You're free." She breathed in the air; her sense of smell always triggered the best memories. "I've always loved the smell of sunlight." She put her hand in the beam of light and felt the heat on her skin.

"How...does...it...feel?" Astrid looked on as the Dalek opened up its casing, revealing the one-eyed, multi-tentacled body with its exposed brain.

Astrid was smiling down at it gently, glad that it could have at least one good memory when the Doctor's voice cut through the room, making her spin to face him, putting her body between the Time Lord and the Dalek. "Star, get out of the way, now!" He was holding a huge frickin' gun and pointing it right at the Dalek, right at Astrid since she was between them. _This is the time he gives me a nickname?_

Astrid gave him a look. "Don't do this, Doctor. I won't let you do this."

She could hear the cold hatred in his voice. The same anger that she had expressed to Van Statten only hours before. "That thing killed hundreds of people." The amount of animosity directed her way, even though it wasn't directly at her, was daunting and a little scary.

Astrid said calmly, but firmly. _I can be harsh when I have to. Don't make me have to, Doctor. Please…not you._"He's not the one pointing the gun at me."

"I've got to do this. I've got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing left."

"Look at it." Astrid stood to the side and let the Doctor see what she saw. That the Dalek was feeling the sunlight on its tentacles, that it wasn't interested in killing anymore.

The Doctor was confused, but he didn't drop the gun. "What's it doing?"

"It wanted the sunlight. Freedom. That's all."

"But it can't..."

She couldn't help it. She had to say the line. That one line from the episode that always rocked her to her core, and the line that she always could see the Doctor rocked to his core as well. But apparently it had to be said. "It couldn't kill Van Statten. It couldn't kill me. It's changing. What about you, Doctor? What the hell are you changing into?" Astrid shook her head slightly, staring the Time Lord down.

The Doctor lowered his gun, but he looked so lost. "I couldn't…" Astrid just stared at him, letting the compassion come back into her eyes. "I wasn't…Oh, Star. They're all dead."

The Dalek spoke again, as if it was an effort. "Why do we survive?"

Astrid looked back at it as the Doctor answered. "I don't know."

"I am the last of the Daleks." It was becoming more and more difficult for it to speak. _It's almost time. _

"You're not even that. Star did more than regenerate you. You absorbed her DNA. You're mutating."

"Into what?"

"Something new. I'm sorry."

"I can feel. So many ideas. So much darkness...Astrid...give me orders! Order me to die. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction! Obey! Obey! Obey!"

Astrid couldn't bloke the single tear that slipped through. "Okay. Do it."

"Are you frightened, Astrid?"

"Yes."

"So am I." With what seemed to be the last of its energy, it said, "Exterminate."

Astrid stumbled backwards, and ran to the Doctor's side as the Dalek replaced its armor. It levitated into the air and the golden knobs detached themselves to surround the Dalek in a perfect sphere. The Dalek glowed briefly, and then exploded inside the sphere, vanishing into nothing. The Doctor stared at the place where it disappeared, stunned.

* * *

><p>Rose, Astrid, and the Doctor stood beside the TARDIS. The Doctor was running his hand up and down the casing and looking up at the windows with a pensive stare. His voice was sad as he commented. "Little piece of home. Better than nothing."<p>

Rose was curious, but a little sad herself. So many people had died that day. "Is that the end of it? The Time War?"

"I'm the only one left. I win. How about that?" Astrid winced at his words, knowing that the Master was still alive…that the Corsair could be alive, though it was unlikely.

Rose tried to cheer him up. "The Dalek survived...maybe some of your people did too."

"I'd know. In here." He gestured to his head. _That's right, the Time Lords are mildly telepathic. He'd feel it if the Corsair was alive. Damn._ "Feels like there's no one."

"Well then…good thing we're not going anywhere." Astrid and Rose grinned at him. He smiles back in response.

Adam jogged up to them. Astrid's face crashed down in anger and the Doctor caught the look easily as did Rose. They both knew from the brunette's face that the boy was bad news. "We'd better get out. Van Statten's disappeared. They're closing down the base." The Doctor turned to face Adam with his arms folded and a stern expression. "Goddard says they're going to fill it full of cement! Like it never existed!"

Rose commented. "About time."

"I'll have to go back home." Adam shrugged.

"Better hurry up then. Next flight to Heathrow leaves at 1500 hours." The Doctor was cross.

So was Astrid. "You left Rose down there. You are never traveling with us if I can help it. Go. Run so that you aren't left behind."

Adam didn't understand. "What're you talking about? We've got to leave!"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her intense reaction and turned to the TARDIS_._ He pulled out his key and went into the TARDIS, followed by Rose. Astrid, glaring at the English kid harshly, said "You have no idea the life I've saved you from." Then she stepped into the ship herself, closed the door tightly, locked it, and surrendered herself to Julian's enthusiastic licking.

She could here Adam talking, and then heard the door tug, but the engines started up and they left without the selfish kid. _Thank you, Rassilon. God. Allah, whoever. Thank you for letting us get through this. Take care of all the souls lost today._ She hugged Julian's neck tightly and allowed him to lick her longer than normal.

The Doctor looked at her solemnly. "How bad would he have made it?" Rose looked over, just as curious.

"He would have sold us out for a computer chip."

The Doctor nodded even as Rose looked shocked and horrified. Astrid swallowed and spoke again. "I'm sorry. I couldn't save them. I tried to keep Rose away, but ended up touching the Dalek myself. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. It's all my fault." She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up through her tears.

There was the Doctor, his eyes full of compassion. "I told you before…I'd rather have you here. I know that while it is possible you could make things better, you could also make them worse. You keep putting yourself in harm's way. You protect Rose, even at the cost to yourself." Rose knelt on the other side of the Time Lord and hugged Astrid intensely around the dog.

"I don't blame you. It's not your fault." _How could he know that was what I wanted to hear most?_

* * *

><p><em>What do you think? This chapter is a bit different at the end due to Astrid taking Rose's spot, but I really wanted to reveal that the Doc loved Astrid and what better way than a Dalek? We have finally reached the romance side of the story! Please leave a review!<em>


	8. The Long Game

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 8: The Long Game**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid, though. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** My beta is back! Yeah! Peaceloverhealer101 is a wondermous beta.

* * *

><p>It was a cool and comfortable library. Every wall was covered from waist to floor with shelves upon shelves of books in every color, shape, and condition. There was a large solid oak desk to on the left side of the room after you came through the oak door, placed on it was a lamp that he was sure he had seen on Van Statten's desk. Behind the desk, taking up the middle half of the wall, was a beautiful picturesque oil painting of Rose laughing. If you looked to the right of the library, there was a fireplace, lit at the moment, with a stone mantelpiece. Two very comfortable looking crimson armchairs were facing the fire, a small side table between them with another lamp like the first. A second oil painting was above the mantelpiece, this one of himself, the Doctor.<p>

Other than the shelves of books and the two quite large paintings of Rose and the Doctor, there were smaller, 8 by 11 paintings of a multitude of other people covering the wall opposite the door. He didn't recognize half of them, but found a few that he knew: Jackie, Mickey, Julian.

The only other occupant of the rather sizable library was currently in the furthest armchair from the entrance, reading contentedly from a book that was large enough to completely cover her lap. Her brown hair had red highlights from the flames, her crystal sky blue eyes focused on the book. When she finally spoke, her voice was a bit cooler and confident than was normal for her. "If you are looking to steal, I'd advise against it."

He raised an eyebrow as he frowned. "Astrid..."

She laughed. "I'm not Astrid."

This was worse than he thought. "Alright. Who are you?"

"I'm Angel. In all technicalities, I am a _part_ of Astrid. I'm the part that lets her do…uncomfortable things when she has to. Survive elementary school for one. It's that book over there." She pointed without looking over her shoulder and as his eyes drifted in the direction she had indicated, a single book had pulled itself further out of the shelves, so that it could be easily identified. He didn't go over to it. He wanted to know about Astrid, and this was not how he had imagined doing it. "Astrid was concerned that her knowledge of the Doctor and Rose would be used against those she loved, so she sectioned off her conscious mind into pieces. I have all of the knowledge of her life and memories except for anything concerning the people in the large paintings."

Well, this was better. Sectioning off the mind meant that it wasn't a true split personality, but a way to protect oneself. The two pieces could be brought together relatively easily, all they had to do was touch, and the comatose should awake. "Where is the part that knows about the Doctor and Rose?"

She laughed again, a colder laugh. She got up and he could see that this was the person who had stood up to Van Statten, even if it didn't remember at the moment. She turned to face him completely and gave him a good once-over. "Well, just because you look like him, doesn't mean you are him. This is a mind-scape. You can be whoever you want to be, look like whoever you want to look." She demonstrated by briefly turning into Rose before going back to herself. "You have to PROVE you are the who you say you are."

"How do I do that?"

"First, a question." She walked to a shelf on the far side and began to take out books, stacking them until she had a set of four, all different sizes and colors. "This is Astrid's lucky number. Every good and pure memory she has is when this number was present. Which are you?"

He looked at her solemnly, not giving away anything. His mind however, was working as quick as lightning, trying to find the puzzle. It was a numbers game, that part was obvious. But as far as he was aware, Astrid wasn't superstitious. So why a lucky number? Then…a light came on in his mind.

It was a_ game_.

Astrid knew that she had information that could destroy everything in the universe, as well as the people she loved the most. So, she had hidden it from the invading force as best as she was able, by shutting herself down. But even that wasn't enough, so she hid the information even further in her mind, behind the exterior of her more protective instincts. Then, she did it again, making it so that only the Doctor himself, the real one, could find her other half, the half with all of the memories, and put her back together. She was afraid someone/something would invade her mind pretending to be him, so she had created a series of tests and questions that only he could answer or solve. It was brilliant, fantastic. He just wished it hadn't been necessary.

So, analyze the question itself. She had said that four was Astrid's lucky number. Wait…no, she didn't. She had _shown_ that four was the number. Then the question... 'which are you?'…and the medium to answer was a stack of books, any books. She wanted a physical answer; she wanted to be shown. 'Which are you?' Which, which, which, which, WHICH!

All of this information passed in a scant few seconds. He figured it out and went over to her and started to pull out books, any books, and stack them. When he reached nine, he stopped. He was the Ninth Doctor. 'Which are you?' was a question about which _regeneration_ he was in. Something that only he himself and Astrid knew.

Angel gave him a cold smile and nodded. "Good. But I have to be sure that wasn't a clever guess. You understand." He nodded in acquiescence. "There are two more tests. The biggest should be relatively simple if you are indeed the Doctor. Find Star."

His eyes widened again. She wanted him to find her other half, with no clues whatsoever? It was her mind! But then he became aware of a song playing. It wasn't like he had heard it the first time. This was with actual music, a keyboard, instruments, and a male voice. The first time he had heard it was a capella, in the midst of breakfast preparations by a female. The twin of the woman in front of him. He turned around, scanning everything he could find in the room. When that didn't reveal anything immediate, he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and turned it on. The link to the screwdriver was telepathic in nature, just like the TARDIS that gave it birth, so it could help. Maybe. He used it to scan around in a slow circle, and the frequency intensified when it was pointed at the fireplace.

He moved closer to the mantelpiece just as the song finished completion. There was no repeat performance. Instead, a different song began to play. This one was a female voice, an American. He didn't recognize the song, but at the moment, he was just interested in finding the source of the sound. He looked at the mantelpiece closely, feeling the heat of the fire on his chest and legs. He examined every inch that he could see, and feeling with his fingers when his eyes weren't enough. The song quit and a new one began this one of the Country origin. He had a bad feeling he would only get four songs.

Then he spotted it. Etched into the wooden frame of his own oil painting were numbers. Barely perceptible. Every number from zero to nine. He glanced at Angel, who was back to reading her book. "Do I get a hint?"

She snorted at him. "I was told that the Doctor would not need hints."

Steeling himself, he made a quick decision and pressed two numbers. Zero. Nine. The painting itself popped open, swinging to the side soundlessly. The music was coming even louder from the tunnel that was revealed. Heaving himself up onto the mantelpiece, he climbed through. Less than a second after he was completely inside the tunnel, the painting closed and a sizzle of electricity consumed his body. Traveling over him, then back into the walls, doing no damage. The seemingly dead-end tunnel suddenly was flooded with light before him as another hatch popped open. It seemed he passed another test.

Crawling forward on hands and knees, he made his way out. Ironically, this end came out on the floor of the room beyond. This room was a perfect replica of Astrid's bedroom on the TARDIS, complete with her own sleeping self. He gave a soft smile and moved to her side. This would be Star; his own nickname for which he was coming to realize was the love he had waited for. He gently scooped her into his arms, her head tucking itself into the nitch between his neck and shoulder. "Come on, Star. It's safe to wake up now."

Angel had apparently followed him. "Yes, Doctor. It is." Even as his eyes shot up to look at her, her hand was coming into contact with Star's hip and the mindscape of one particular brunette dissolved in a brilliant white light.

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><p>Crystal sky blue eyes fluttered open as he took his fingers away from her temples. Her voice was soft and gentle, "Did it work?" He smiled an ear-splitting grin and nodded. "Good. Then please get this chip out of my head. Oh, and could you fix my ears while you're at it? It's starting to get ridiculous."<p>

He gave a full-throated laugh as he gleefully spun the previously-comatose girl around and around the TARDIS medical bay.

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><p><em>Yes, it's short...which is why there are two in one day! What do you think? Astrid loves reviews! They keep her going.<em>


	9. Father's Day

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 9: Father's Day**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** Wonderful beta in the form of peaceloverhealer101.

_Astrid's thoughts_

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><p>Astrid was sitting in the TARDIS kitchendining room, sipping a hot chocolate. She couldn't sleep. It was getting so close. She could feel it. She knew the next episode to come, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to face it. Not sure if she SHOULD face it. So many things were good and bad about what happened. _The best way to really get a decision…is to ask. _

Mind made up, she fixed a second mug of hot chocolate and started for the main control room. Just as she had suspected, there was the Doctor, hard at work doing meaningless little adjustments to his ship's controls. She cleared her throat, gave a smile and said, "I've named her Alexandra. It means 'Defender of Mankind' in Latin. I thought it was appropriate."

His head shot up, making him hit the back of his head on the console where he was bent over. Cursing in a language that the TARIDS refused to translate—_so that is what Gallifreyan sounds like, it's very pretty even when cussing_—he pulled himself out of the floor panel and got to his feet. She held out the mug and gestured to the seat.

He raised an eyebrow, but joined her. "Who are you naming?"

"The TARDIS. Do you know, you never asked her name, in all the 700 years that you have traveled. She's quite miffed about it." Her tone was purely conversational despite his quirked eyebrow.

"YOU named the TARDIS? Why? How do you even know she likes that name?"

Astrid gave him a wide smile and looked up at the ceiling. "Lexi? Do you like the name Alexandra?" As if in answer, the lights all over the control room flickered once, dimming and then going back strong. "I'll admit it's not a perfect system. As of yet, I can only ask yes or no questions. It took about four days to find a name we both liked. It's not like she can tell me her real one, I figured it would do until you could ask her name yourself."

It was an interesting moment of clarity. He never had asked. He never really thought of the TARDIS as wanting to be talked to at all. He knew she was sentient, but she lived in eleven dimensions simultaneously. The effort she had to make to be understood by one little human was staggering. Deciding on one question at a time, he asked, "'Lexi'?"

Astrid nodded. "Alexander lends itself to a lot of nicknames. Lexi is my favorite. Now that we've got the tension out of the way, I need to talk to you." She took a drink from her mug and drew a breath. "The next episode that I know of…" He straightened; she never gave out information like this. "…I'm not sure I _should_ prevent it. It will make Rose very happy." The weight of the world seemed to be on her shoulders. "But nothing is free, Doctor. You know that more than most. The price…the price will be pain. Your pain. I figured, since it affects you directly, it should be your decision. I can prevent everything very easily, or I can just sit back and let everything happen as I saw before."

Now he understood her dilemma. Her sister's happiness or her…boyfriend's? pain. Something she knew he would survive, but it would hurt. "How happy will this make Rose?"

Astrid gave a small sad smile, "There is no measurement, no monetary value."

He gave one nod, and made his decision. "Then let it happen."

Astrid nodded again. "When she asks about her father…I'll stay in the TARDIS. If I'm there, I might change the outcome." Her blue eyes sought his, and locked intensely as they tried to communicate the danger and the care she had for him. "I'll wait for you."

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><p><em>Yes, short, but I did not want to change canon for this episode...this chapter explains why there is no change. What do you think? Astrid lives off of reviews!<em>


	10. The Empty Child

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 10: The Empty Child**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** peaceloverhealer101 is my beta.

_Astrid's thoughts_

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><p>Three months had gone passed, by her internal calendar, and life on the TARDIS was as normal as could be expected in a time machine travelling with a Time Lord. Three kidnappings, two slave riots, and one nut with a particle extrapolator later…life was good. Even after the Doctor and Rose got back from seeing her father, it made for a tense few days, but in the end, he forgave Rose and Rose forgave Astrid for not warning her about Pete Tyler.<p>

Now, Astrid was jolted awake by an alarm echoing throughout the entire ship. She jerked on a pair of dark blue jeans, sports bra—after only two trips through the TARDIS, she learned the intense value of a bra that let her run easily—and a plain black snuggable t-shirt, and finally yanking on a pair of sneakers. Over half a year spent with the Doctor, and she could get dressed in a now record—for her—time of twenty-seven seconds.

She stumbled through the corridors, slamming into walls at various intervals when the TARDIS went side to side through space and time. Astrid finally reached the main control room and called out, "What's the emergency?" Rose came up behind her…in a Union Jack t-shirt. _Oh. My. God. I LOVE THIS EPISODE! _Astrid started to mentally cackle. _This set were my fourth and fifth favorite episodes when it was on disc; seeing it in person should be even better!_

"It's mauve." The Doctor was rushing around the console, the TARDIS trying to follow the 'piece of spacejunk' if she remembered correctly by shuddering, shaking, and basically putting the three of them through a blender. At the moment, Astrid could care less that she had to hold on tight to a coral-themed column. "The universally recognized color for danger."

Rose, however, was at the console with the Doctor and was curious as ever. "What happened to red?"

Astrid knew she was grinning like a moron, but she couldn't help it. She loved that line, so she said it instead. "That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing."

The Doctor looked up at her briefly, saw the recognition he was coming to expect. But he also saw the sheer joy in her face. She knew what was going to happen, and she loved it. That was a huge improvement. He turned to explain to Rose, "It's got a very basic flight computer - I've hacked in, slaved the TARDIS. Where it goes, we go."

"And that's safe, is it?" Rose was understandably concerned, considering the TARDIS was shaking them around like salt.

"Totally." _Cue the console exploding!_ Rose gave a small scream of surprise. "Okay, reasonably. Should have said 'reasonably' there." _Even with the danger of the TARDIS throwing us all around, that is still funny._ "Oh, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks - getting away from us."

"What exactly is this thing?"

"No idea." _Oo, oo, oo! I do! Pick me!_

"Then why are we chasing it?"

"It's mauve and dangerous. And about 30 seconds from the center of London." Astrid laughed out loud this time. She couldn't help it. The Doctor glanced at her before working quickly with the TARDIS, trying to catch up with the object. He called out to her, "Want to help?"

Astrid shook her head with an ear-splitting grin. "Oh heck no, this is going to be a great one, Doctor. You're going to love this!" She cackled again as they hurtled through space and time, directly towards Earth.

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><p>It was night, the full moon shining brightly overhead. They had landed in an alley, clothes hanging out to dry up above their heads, all kinds of boxed crates around and a lot of brick. Astrid, over the last few months, had taken to walking out with the Doctor—or was he waiting for her to walk out with him?—so got to see the alleyway herself with the Doctor at her side. She had given Julian a big hug and kiss in happiness and had practically skipped out of the TARDIS door, Rose laughing at her antics behind her.<p>

The Doctor was smiling at Astrid as well, amused at how she was handling this one. He commented absently toward Rose, but his eyes never left the skipping brunette. "Do you know how long we can knock around space without having to bump into Earth?"

Rose took a guess absently, also watching Astrid. "Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?"

"Of all the species in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow."

Astrid laughed when she heard this, but added her own two cents. "Well, Doctor. Hot chocolate does not taste the same with snorlax milk. Or caflte milk, or busken milk. Even ordinary goat is a bit odd when mixed with chocolate. Just stick to moo-milk. Much better!"

He raised an eyebrow, mouthed 'moo milk' in amazement and looked at Rose. "You think she's happy?" Rose giggled. He looked around the alley, back to business. "Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."

Rose was incredulous. She was beside the Doctor by now, Astrid still up ahead, skipping to her heart's content. "A month? We were right behind it!"

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place, we're bound to be a little bit out. Do YOU wanna drive?"

"Yeah or let Astrid drive. How much is 'a little'?"

"A bit."

"Is that EXACTLY a bit?"

"Ish." By this time, Astrid had to stop since she was openly laughing at the two of them as she waited for them to catch up to her.

"What's the plan, then? Are you gonna do a scan for alien tech or something?"

"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm gonna ask." He held up the psychic paper.

She read it closely, even in the dark the full moon had enough light for her to be able to read. "Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids." She then looked up to glare at him. "Not very 'Spock', is it? Just asking?" They finally caught up to Astrid, who was leaning up again a very unassuming door at the end of the alley. Trash cans were piled high to the right and the brunette was grinning as she watched them argue.

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and tried to get through the door. "Door, music, people. What d'you think?"

"I think you should do a scan for alien tech." He finally gets the right setting for the screwdriver and turns it on. "Gimme some Spock! For once, would it kill ya?" Rose was so indignant that Astrid was giggling again beside them.

The Doctor looked up at her as he kneeled down to get in a better position for the screwdriver. "Are you sure about that t-shirt?"

Rose's t-shirt was so gaudy and garish, Astrid wasn't surprised at his comment—_having nothing to do with the fact I knew he was going to ask it!—_but Rose had bought it in the future and was still odd. _Though why she bought a shirt she wasn't sure about it is beyond me. I like black…looks good on me, goes with everything, and I can wear my comfy black shoes with it and people assume I'm matching and did it on purpose._ "Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin."

Then Rose and Astrid—_and probably the Doctor too but he does yet know the significance of that voice—_hear little Jamie call out, "Mummy." Rose goes out a little ways from the other two, Astrid staying put by the trashcans. _I've got the Doctor, Rose can have Jack. He'd be good for her._ "Mummy?"

The Doctor finally got the door open. "Come on if you're coming. Won't take a minute." He went through the door; Astrid threw one look over her shoulder at her sister, gave another bright smile, and followed the Doctor. _See you on the flip side, Rose! Have fun!_

They walked, the Doctor first and then Astrid, through back way corridors following the music. Then up ahead they both saw the hanging beads in a pretty flower pattern before a waiter appeared with drinks. The Doctor looked at Astrid, who gave him a bright smile with he returned, and followed the waiter.

It was a drinking den, full of smoke, chatter—_when did they invent soundproofing?—_and a singer in a white boa being backed up by a saxophone and acoustic accompaniment. Astrid and the Doctor waited easily for the singer, who wasn't half bad, to finish. They joined the clapping as the Doctor made his way toward the stage and the singer walked off. Astrid just leaned back against the wall, watching him figure it out. "Excuse me! Excuse me!" he made it to the microphone and was able to ask so that everyone could hear. "Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo'? Be very quick, eh... hello!" He put up both hands in a quick wave. "Eh...might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently?"

The whole cantina was completely silent for a few seconds, Astrid holding in her laughter with a vast amount of effort. Then the audience concludes that he's a comedian and begins to laugh. This is Astrid's cue and she dissolves into hysterical heaves, having to lean against the wall for support. "Sorry, have I said something funny?" Astrid he saw was no help whatsoever, she was laughing enough to cry. So, he tried again. "It's just, there's this thing I need to find, would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." A siren started to go off. Everyone in the bar chugged the last of their drinks and quickly began to vacate the room. The Doctor doesn't understand yet. "Would've landed quite near here…with a very loud…bang…" The Doctor looks at them all in absolute confusion, then over at the brunette. She takes pity on him and points to a poster on the wall beside her.

He sees the poster of planes in a spotlight with the words 'HITLER WILL SEND NO WARNING!' He closed his eyes and his shoulders dropped. Could he never catch a break? But Astrid was still laughing at him, though she was finally sobering enough to wipe her cheeks and made her way over to him.

"It's alright, Doctor. Let's go find Rose." _Even though Rose is currently hanging from a barrage balloon that will come undone. Soon, she'll meet Jack. Lucky chit._

They go out of the drinking den the same way they came in. The Doctor calls out for Rose, but doesn't see her. He runs around the corner to the TARDIS, but she is still nowhere to be found. Astrid spots the cat sitting on the top of a pile of crates and picks it up gently. Cradling it to her chest and petting its head she watches as the Doctor looks at her. "You know...one day. Just one day, maybe...I'm gonna meet someone who gets the whole 'don't wander off' thing. 900 years of phone box travel, it's the only thing left to surprise me." He shook his head. Behind him, the TARDIS phone started to ring. Brow furrowed in confusion, the Doctor walked over to the TARDIS and opened the compartment behind which the phone is hidden. He stared at it, and then looked up at Astrid. She grinned at him and shrugged noncommittally. He turned back to the phone, "How can you be ringing? What's that about? Ringing?" He took out his sonic screwdriver, prepared to do something. "What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"

A girl was standing just beside and behind Astrid. She had come up behind them so silently it was uncanny. "Don't answer it. It's not for you."

He looked at her in just as much confusion as he had the phone. "And how do you know that?"

"'Cos I do. And I'm tellin' ya…don't answer it."

"Well, if you know so much, tell me this - how can it be ringing?" Nancy took the time when he turned away to face the phone again to disappear. The Doctor never noticed. "It's not even a real phone. It's not CONNECTED_, _it's not…" He turned back to find that Nancy was gone and gave Astrid the confused look. Taking a wild shot, he looked back at the phone and picked it up. "Hello? This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?" Astrid watched as the grin faded from his face. "Who is this? Who's speaking?" He didn't like what he heard, as she knew he wouldn't. His tone became much more forceful. "Who is this? How did you RING it? This isn't a real phone, it's not wired up to anything, it's…" She knew the phone went dead when he gently placed it back in the cradle. He looked up at her. "Rose isn't in there, is she?"

Astrid shook her head. "Nope. Maybe I should have been clearer. This is one of my favorite adventures, Doctor. But you know the saying about the calm before the storm? And that the worse is yet to come? Both of those apply here. The ending is fantastic though, you'll love it." She gave him a huge grin, set the cat down, and waited.

There was a crashing at the end of the alley behind them. He closed the phone compartment firmly and started to run toward the sound. He passed Astrid on the way, grabbed her hand in his and they ran off together into the street beyond the alley. Taking a guess—_I think it's a guess, I don't hear anything unusual coming from this direction…but I am wearing my ear-filters so that I don't wince when the stupid bombs go off, so what the heck do I know?_—he turned left and ran.

They heard a female, very annoyed, voice coming from beyond a red brick wall. "The planes are coming. Can't you hear them? Into the shelter. None of your nonsense, now MOVE it!" The Doctor, since he was the only one of the pair of them that didn't know what was going on, climbed on top of a trashcan and looked over the top of the wall into a garden. Astrid stayed down at the street level, just listening.

"Come on, come on, get in there. Arthur! Arthur! Will you hurry up? Didn't you hear the sirens?" That was the woman again.

"Middle of dinner, every night. Bloomin' Germans. Don't you eat?" _And that's her husband._

The Doctor grinned down at Astrid, starting to understand why this would be one of her favorites. Despite the confusion of 'Mummy' and his telephone, several funny things had happened so far, at least from her viewpoint.

"I can hear the planes!" _Wife again._

"Don't you eat?" _Husband._

The couple go on like that for a bit longer. Astrid kept listening, watching silently. Then, she hears a distinct whistle, repeated three times. _And there is Nancy again. That is one very impressive young lady._

Some more children ran down the road into the house where Nancy was serving dinner. They are watched by the masked child. One boy kneels down to tie his shoelace. Astrid watches with mixed emotions, seeing the masked child for the first time. _Poor little kid._

The Doctor motions her to be quiet and they slip in the back door easily. Astrid knew she was short enough and looked young enough to pass for a teenager, but the Doctor sure as heck couldn't. The fact that he could be that quiet and invisible when he needed to be was just…sexy as hell. He managed to get them through the door, hallway, and into the dining room with saucer plates, silverware and all without being noticed. She knew her face was showing awe and her eyes were sparking with desire…_He fits every criteria I can think of for the perfect guy. Makes me laugh no matter what the situation or my mood, can carry on an intelligent conversation, and he's willing to do whatever is necessary to protect his family. I think I have well and truly fallen head over heels…what the heck am I going to do? _They sat down, or she should say that the Doctor sat down. No other chairs were available for her. Astrid poked her tongue out at him.

They came in just as Nancy was serving the slices of turkey, or was it chicken? "_…_One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly."

All the children did exactly as told, one slice each, and thanked Nancy with enthusiasm. Even as the plate was traveling around the table, the Doctor took pity on Astrid and motioned to his lap. It never really occurred to him that his offer of a seat better than standing would mean more to her than him. She was, after all, very human. He also completely missed her deep blush as she did take him up on the offer, a warm smile on her face. When the plate came his way, he stabbed three slices, one for Astrid and two for himself, and said gaily, "Thanks, miss!"

They all gasp in surprise, the children jumping backwards. Nancy was very calm though and said gently to the kids, "It's all right. Everybody stay where they are." One boy was so shocked that he still had a piece of meat hanging out of his mouth.

Astrid wiggled a bit on the Doctor's lap and snagged the top piece of meat. "Who's got the salt? Mmm…thanks, Nancy. This is delicious!" The Doctor gave her a look which she grinned in response. _Tugged us out of bed in the middle of the freakin' night without even breakfast…I'm hungry!_

Nancy raised an eyebrow at the odd girl with the equally odd man, but at least the girl had manners. "You're welcome. The rest of you, back in your seats. They shouldn't be here either."

The Doctor smiled at the group and passed the gravy boat that Astrid indicated. "So, you lot, what's the story?"

"What d'you mean?" A boy asked, shrugging.

"You're homeless, right? Living rough?"

"Why d'you wanna know that? Are you a copper?" Another boy—_I think his name's Jim?_

"Of course I'm not a copper. What's a copper gonna do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?" The children all laughed, and the ice is broken. Astrid grinned. _How can he be so good with children, but still be so clueless about some other things?_ She wiggled again on his lap and he finally got an interesting expression, but for the moment dismissed it. "I make it 1941, you lot shouldn't be in London. You should've been evacuated to the country by now."

The new little boy spoke up. "I was evacuated. They sent me to a farm."

"So why'd you come back?" The Doctor didn't seem to understand some parts of human nature. _That is a good thing…you can only understand something after seeing if for a long period of time, or knowing enough to want it yourself. Very good thing he can't understand._

"There was a man there..."

"Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago."

"Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. Better food."

"Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us."

The Doctor smiled brilliantly at Nancy. "So, that's what you do is it, Nancy?" Astrid munched on the meat and while the Doctor was talking to Nancy so intently, snagged his slice of meat while she was at it. _How in the heck can he run on so little calorie intake? Beyond madness._ She dipped the meat in the gravy and while Nancy was asking her question, the Doctor was about to answer and she stuffed it into his mouth. The children of course, thought this was all kinds of funny, but the Doctor ate like a bird. _He needs to eat more. _The Doctor glared at her, but she wiggled on his lap again in retaliation, making his eye widen slightly for a split second. _I may be a virgin, but I sure as hell ain't innocent._ He swallowed the mouth of meat and turned back to Nancy. Astrid began serving herself peas, then passing them around. "As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal, still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all! As long as the bombs don't get you."

Nancy was still really calm. _After your son turns into a mindless…something, not much can shake you I suppose._ "Something wrong with that?"

"Wrong with it? It's BRILLIANT_. _I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical."

Astrid spoke up after swallowing a mouthful of peas. "West End is the British version of Broadway, right?" He nodded in answer, since his mouth was now full of peas as well. He had opened his mouth to answer and got a spoon instead. The children were finding this dance of food between the two of them vastly entertaining.

He gave her an odd look. "What did you do when you lived in London?"

"Waited for you." Her voice was soft, and his face fell in understanding and compassion.

Nancy was confused. "Why'd you follow me? What d'you want?"

"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask."

"I did you a favor. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling ya."

He opened his mouth to another mouth of peas. He rolled his eyes, glaring at the smirking brunette. Swallow. "Great, thanks. And I wanna find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one, I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving." The children all laugh again, but Nancy does not look impressed. She stands up and comes around the table. "Anybody seen a girl like that?"

Astrid saw her coming and hands her the plate, the slice of meat that was one too many sitting on there innocently. Nancy raised an eyebrow. "He's a bit dense in some areas, but he is fantastic in others. He just wasn't paying attention."

He frowned at the two women and asked indignantly, "What've I done wrong?"

In stereo, both girls answered. "You took three slices." Astrid's answer was more of a statement and Nancy's an accusation. Nancy continued. "No blondes. No flags. Anything else before you leave?"

_Damn, and this was really good dinner too. Need to stop by Wal-Mart, the TARDIS needs more groceries. _"Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb." He took a notebook out of his pocket. "Not the usual kind anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Would've just buried itself in the ground somewhere, and it would've looked something like..." He made a few quick lines to sketch it out and then held it up for the children to see. "This."

Then came a knock on the window. All the children gasp. Astrid sighs and gets to her feet, knowing that he'll want to get up and investigate. He did, gently moving her to one side and then pulled back the curtain. A small child with a gasmask on his face was standing there. He was one knocking. "Mummy?"

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked urgently. When they pointed to the Doctor, she shook her head slightly. "Nah, he came round the back. Who came in the front?"

The new little boy whispered. "Me."

"Did you close the door?"

"I…"

"Did you close the door?" It was so urgent in her tone, you could easily tell.

"Mummy? Mummy?" Jamie moved around, his shadow appearing on the curtains as the boy moved to the front door.

Astrid watched him move, wondering mildly at the intensity of his concern. His next remark made her remember and give him a soft sad smile of encouragement. "What's this, then? It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know."

"I suppose you'd know."

"I do actually, yes." Despite his words, he smiled at her pleasantly.

Nancy couldn't argue with him, so explained as best as she could. "It's not exactly a child."

"Mummy?"

Nancy pushed past the Doctor and went back into the dining room. Astrid could hear her order the children to go out the back garden. The children quickly did exactly as she said, filing past Astrid and the Doctor out the back way. He could only watch them, confused. He was especially confused by Astrid's attitude. Once, she had been excited about what she knew coming to pass, but now she was much more sad.

The mysterious child was still talking. "Mummy? Please let me in, Mummy." He stuck his hand through the letterbox. He had a scar on the back of his perfectly ordinary little hand. "Please let me in, mummy."

"You all right?" The Doctor asked in concern.

"Please let me in."

Nancy suddenly threw something against the door, which smashes. The child withdrew his hand. "You mustn't let him touch ya!"

"What happens if he touches me?" The Doctor asked, intensely confused. What could a child possibly do?

Surprisingly, Astrid was the one who answered, her tone very hollow. "Doctor, if Jamie touches you, the happy ending will be but a fleeting dream. Don't touch him."

Nancy was gob-smacked by the brunette naming her little brother and stepped away. "I've gotta go."

But the Doctor wasn't finished. "Nancy, what's he like?" They look at each other in a battle of wills.

The Doctor won. Nancy confessed softly. "He's empty." The phone begins to ring. "It's him. He can make phones ring, he can. Just like with that police box you saw."

The Doctor picks up the phone and listens, but Nancy was just as fast, snatching the phone away from him and slamming it down into its cradle. The radio turned on by itself and the little boy asked for his mummy over the airwaves. The Doctor turned the tuner but it didn't help. He stopped trying when a toy monkey suddenly springs to life. The child talking through the monkey even as the thing chimed it's cymbals. The Doctor picked it up.

"Mummy, mummy, mummy..." Nancy said something she couldn't quite catch and left out the back. The child stuck his hand through the letterbox again. "Mummy? Let me in please, Mummy." The Doctor kneeled in front of the door, his face filled with concern. "PLEASE let me in."

The Doctor finally decided to say something. "Your mummy isn't here."

The radio switched off instantly and the monkey stopped chiming. After a pause, "Are you my mummy?"

"No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens." He looked back and saw only Astrid. The expression on her face was pure motherly compassion, but she said nothing.

"I'm scared."

The Doctor still didn't know what was going on, and Astrid wasn't being forthcoming. "Why are those other child frightened of you?"

"Please let me in, Mummy. I'm scared of the bombs."

The Doctor thought a moment and nodded. "Okay. I'm opening the door now."

The child withdrew his hand from the mail slot. The Doctor unlocked the bolts and opened the door, but the child had disappeared. The Doctor walked down the path, looking up and down the street. There was no sign of life at all.

* * *

><p>Nancy hurried across the train tracks, into an outer house and started taking food out of her bag. She suddenly turns around, when she notices the Doctor standing in the doorway, watching her. Astrid stood a little bit behind him, leaning against a disused train. "How'd you follow me here?"<p>

The Doctor was intensely smug. "I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it."

Nancy was naturally suspicious. "People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to."

"My nose has special powers." Astrid slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

Nancy thought it was just as funny, and said as much before she remembered that it was a little rude. "Yeah? That's why it's so..."

The Doctor of course had no idea what she was talking about, which made it all the funnier in Astrid's opinion. "What?"

Nancy was grinning even as she said, "Nothing."

The Doctor saw her face and persistently asked again. "What?"

At this point, Nancy started teasing him. He seemed like a nice bloke and the brunette with him was amiable, if very shy and quiet. "Nothing! Do your ears have special powers too?"

The Doctor finally seemed to get it. _I think, he can be a bit dense at times._ "What are you trying to say?"

"Goodnight, Mister." Nancy turned away when the Doctor once again said something that stopped her.

"Nancy. There's something chasing you and the other kids. Looks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right?" She looked back at him, a frown covering her features. "The thing I'm looking for. The thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

She said calmly, "There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station."

"Take me there." He demanded.

But she was a very self-assured young lady and shook her head. "No. There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through."

He was persistent though. "Try me!"

"You sure you wanna know what's going on in there?"

"I really wanna know."

"Then there's someone you need to talk to first."

"And who might that be?"

"The Doctor."

The Doctor's face furrowed into a frown. Astrid dissolved into laughter at his face. Nancy frowned at the odd girl, but just turned and began to walk away. He gave a soft, almost ironic laugh, grabbed Astrid's hand and pulled her along as he followed Nancy.

* * *

><p>Astrid stayed away from the Doctor as he was using the binoculars. Nancy was close to him and they were having a conversation. They had about another two hours if she remembered correctly before the bomb hit the ambulance. She didn't really want to hear this conversation. She was up and away so that she wouldn't. Every time she heard in on the show she would get a bit teary…now was really not a good time. Especially since every emotion would be heightened, her seeing it in person.<p>

She waited until Nancy turned to leave up the steps and the Doctor motioned her down the steps. _Now we go see Dr. Constantine._

They made their way quickly and silently around the barbed wire fence, the soldiers. Astrid was reminded of how he had moved through the dining room without being noticed. When they got to the gate of the Albion Hospital and found it locked, out came the sonic screwdriver. The padlock popped open with a sparking sound. Astrid helps him get the chain off and they work their way through the hospital itself, just as quietly as before.

Picking a ward at random, The Doctor entered a dark ward, Astrid at his heels, where rows and rows of people are lying on beds, wearing gas masks, completely lifeless. He looks around at them all, brow furrowed, and left. Astrid gave the people a sympathetic look and whispered gently, "Don't worry. It won't be long now."

He heard her speak, but not what was said. Just gave her an intense no-nonsense look. "Want to tell me anything?"

Astrid sighed. "Seeing this in person…it's not how I remember it. I know how it's going to end, and I'm really happy about it…but the lead-up, when in person…it's…not scary, but kinda…" she fought to find a good word and suddenly said, "...sad. Seeing the children running from pedophiles, knowing that it's real. Watching Nancy as she goes through trying to care for homeless children because she feels guilty that she couldn't protect Jamie." They reached a lit corridor and moved to find another ward. "When I'm just watching the show, seeing it, I can enjoy it because I know that it's not real…but it is real. Here, it is very real. And I know…"

She put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. She gave him a hug, and he could recognize that it was a hug of desperation and sadness. She needed that hug, so he returned it gladly. She pulled away and looked at him with tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "It's getting toward the end, Doctor. I watched five and a half seasons of Doctor Who. It's getting to the end of season one…the reason why I'm here to begin with. When that happens, if I survive it…"

His tone changed into a forceful one, defiant. "Don't talk like that."

"Shut up and listen." He obediently fell quiet. "It's Rose. You know she looks up to you like a big brother, don't you?" He nodded without speaking. "I need you to be that brother, if something happens to me. There's going to come a time when I can't prevent anything else, that my use in this world is done…I need to know that Rose will still be protected. Promise me."

The Doctor gazed into her eyes and knew, just knew without knowing how or why, that he would do anything she asked. "I promise." He also knew that if it was within his power, there was nothing that would stop him from saving her. In that moment, he knew that if he had to choose between them, he would hate himself for it and would accept everything she gave him for the choice, but he would choose his Star. He would have to create a new emergency protocol for the TARDIS, because he wouldn't make himself choose if he had any say in the matter.

Putting aside the frankly bleak conversation, he focused on the problem at hand and found another ward. This one was much lighter but there were still rows of people covered in gas masks lining the walls. Astrid stayed by his side, almost as if she was afraid he would run off without her, but the more he tried to think of what she suggested—a time without her—the more he never wanted her out of his sight.

A bump and an old man in a doctor's overcoat came into the room. "You'll find them everywhere. Every bed in every ward. Hundreds of them."

The Doctor pushed aside the thoughts of Astrid again, trying to concentrate on the present. "Yes, I saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks?"

"They're not. Who are you?"

"I'm, uh..." He trailed off. If this was another of his own incarnations, and apparently one that didn't remember him, this could get very interesting. "Are you the doctor?"

"Doctor Constantine. And you are?"

"Nancy sent me."

"Nancy? That means you must've been asking about the bomb."

Astrid spoke this time, her voice melodic and echoing in the silent ward. "Yes, we were. Are you alright?"

Dr. Constantine ignored her question for now; there was nothing she could do. "What do you know about it?" He continued to make his way farther into the room.

"Nothing. Why I was asking. What do you know?"

"Only what it's done."

"These people. They were all caught up in the blast?"

"None of them were." He laughed slightly, but it turned into a nasty cough. He sat down in a chair just behind him. The Doctor takes a few steps towards him, but halted at the soft hand on his arm. Astrid.

Instead of going closer, he heard behind him a soft compassionate comment, "You're very sick."

Dr. Constantine, the wonderful man, just calmly explained. "Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time." The Doctor grinned slightly at the humor. "Are you a doctor?"

"I have my moments." The Doctor gave a full smile this time.

"Have you examined any of them, yet?"

"No."

Dr. Constantine gravely intoned. "Don't touch the flesh."

"Which one?"

"ANY one."

The Doctor, raised his eyebrows, took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and approached the nearest bed. He ran the screwdriver over the mask covered face of the body. Astrid just watched silently near the entrance of the ward. It was fascinating watching the Doctor interact with an actual doctor.

Dr. Constantine's voice was only mildly interested. He knew what the alien would find. "Conclusions?"

"Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side..." the screwdriver continued on its journey down the body "Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh but I can't see any burns."

"Examine another one." It was almost becoming a cruel and sick joke.

The Doctor went over to another body and does the scan again. The gas mask is fused to the flesh and the body bears the same scar on the back of the hand. He turned off his sonic screwdriver and looked back to Doctor Constantine. "This isn't possible."

"Examine another."

The Doctor hurried to another bed, this time across the room from the previous two and did the examination again. "This isn't possible!"

"No."

"They've all got the same injuries!" The Doctor was incredulous, disbelieving.

The Constant Doctor was still very calm. "Yes."

"Exactly the same."

"Yes."

"Identical, all of them. Right down to the scar on the back of the hand." Astrid gave Dr. Constantine a sympathetic look when the man looked at his own right hand and saw the scar. He caught the expression and gave a quirk of an eyebrow, but there were more important matters than an odd girl at the moment.

"How did this happen? How did it start?" the Doctor demanded answers.

Dr. Constantine tried to give them to him. Very soon, he would be dead; someone would have to take his place. "When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim."

"Dead?"

This strange man, a doctor, was as good a pick as any. "At first. His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death?"

"The head trauma." The Doctor said it like it was obvious, but the doctor's answer surprised him.

"No."

"Asphyxiation?" That was the second worst injury.

"No."

"The collapse of the chest cavity." Now he was starting to guess.

"No."

He was starting to see a trend and stopped guessing. _He hates guessing anyway. _"All right. What was the cause of death?"

"There wasn't one." The Doctor looked at him in confusion, his brow furrowed. "They're not dead." He rapped his can against a tin trashcan, and all the patients suddenly sat up. The Doctor looks alarmed and moved unconsciously back so that he was between them and Astrid, who had made a tiny sound of alarm. "It's all right. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat. No life signs of any kind. They just don't die."

"And they've just been left here? Nobody's DOING anything?" He was now starting to get mad. _You won't like him when he's angry…another relatively good movie, though the sequel sucked._ The gas-mask people slowly lay back down.

"I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" Dr. Constantine was frank. This was beyond his purview.

The Doctor was now sad and angry. "Just you? You're the only one here?"

"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I am still a doctor."

"Yeah. Know the feeling." _Susan. I always forget about Susan until that line. Another reason why he will never love me…why would he try to get close to me when he knows that I'll eventually die like all the others?_

"I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb."

The Doctor looked around. "Probably too late."

"No. They are isolated cases... isolated cases breaking out all over London..." He coughed again. His speech began to get patchy. The Doctor moved towards him, but even as Dr. Constantine said "Stay back. Stay back." He felt Astrid's hand tighten on his arm, preventing him from going forward. "Listen to me. Top floor. Room 802. That's where they took the first victim. The one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again."

"Nancy?" The Doctor didn't understand what she had to do with this.

"It was her brother." Now he did. "She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she mi…mi…" He gagged and clutched at his neck as his face began to darken considerably. "M…mu…mum…" The Doctor watched him in intense concern, but the hand on his arm prevented him from doing anything. "Are…you…my…mum…my?" As the Doctor watched, a gas mask protruded horribly out of Constantine's mouth. His eyes became the gas mask, and it fused onto his face, and he goes limp. Astrid gave a mournful cry and hid her face into the back of his jacket, her shoulders shook with the intensity of her willpower to hold back the tears. _Oh god, this isn't funny at all…how could I think this was funny? _

The Doctor heard voices in the distance. A male and Rose were calling out 'hello' every few seconds. "Wait here." He maneuvered the brunette girl into a spare wooden chair by the entrance of the ward and went to check out who were not gas-mask people in this godforsaken hospital. Astrid just nodded and with her shoulders in a slump, sat to wait quietly, her eyes firmly on the floor. She couldn't bare to look up.

* * *

><p>Jack was using his watch to scan the bodies. He was incredulous, just as disbelieving as the Doctor had been previously, before he had watched it happen in front of him with Dr. Constantine. "This just isn't possible. How could this happen?"<p>

"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" Astrid heard the half-accusation in the Doctor's voice when he addressed Jack

"What?"_ I forgot how much of a kid Jack was in the beginning. He needs to grow up…fast._

"He said it was a warship. He stole it. Parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's gonna fall on it…unless WE make him an offer." Rose understood Jack's confusion, but surrounded by all the gas-mask people made her compassion disappear.

The Doctor immediately demanded. "What kind of warship?"

Jack was beyond agitated at this point. "Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this!"

The Doctor was beyond angry. "This started at the bomb site. It's got EVERYTHING to do with it. What kind of warship?"

"An ambulance!" Jack fiddled with his wrist watch device. "Look." A hologram of the warship that had started the whole thing appeared above the top of the device. "That's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle…love the retro look, by the way, nice panels…"

Astrid interrupted him with a half-snarl. "You hit on Lexi again and I'll put itching powder in your underwear drawer!"

Jack was startled; he had barely even noticed the girl standing so quietly by the entrance. He gave her his patented sexy smile. "Hello. Captain Jack Harkness."

Astrid's eyes widened to the point of ridiculous. _He's hitting on me! He's actually hitting on me! Well, Dad always said that there was one sure fire way to dis-interest a guy._ She summoned the scene from the end of 'Doctor Dances' where the Doctor has that goofy face and began to laugh, right in Jack's face. It was only half successful though, she could tell when he looked up. She rolled her eyes, and pulled what she hoped was a good younger-sister routine. "EWWW! Jack, you are like my big brother! What the hell are you hitting on me for?"

The Doctor, who had been angry before this side-trip, had grown in jealousy when the captain had started to flirt, but was now quite happy. He even allowed the grin to blossom on his face.

Jack's face however was a mask of disbelief. "What?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Jack…you're a TIME traveler…and you find a younger sister odd? Anyway, I'm not biologically your younger sister, just emotionally. I've known you a long time, since I was about fifteen. Oh, and Jack?" She stepped up to him, sashed her hips suggestively. When she was close enough, she grabbed his collar and roughly pulled him towards her. "If you break Rose's heart, I have no qualms with beating you to death with a shovel." _It's not like he won't come back to life. _She let him go and patted his shoulder before going back to her spot, tossing over her shoulder as she left, "Nobody likes a vague disclaimer." _That was always one of my favorite lines of Willow's._

Rose was giggling behind her hand, but steered the conversation back to the matter at hand. "You said it was a WAR ship."

He turned to face her and gave her a 'duh' expression. "They have ambulances in wars." He saw that she didn't understand and was annoyed. "It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. Thought you were Time Agents but you're not, are you?"

Rose was getting angry again. "Just a couple more free-lancers."

"Oh! Should've known. The way you guys are blending in with the local color. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain?" Rose and the Doctor looked at each other's clothing, wondering what was wrong with it. Astrid snickered quietly, glad to have something to be happy about again. "Anyway. Whatever's happening here has got NOTHINGto do with that ship."

Rose's tone was filled with concern as she looked around at all the beds. "What IS happening here, Doctor?"

"Human DNA's being rewritten. By an idiot." His tone was very resigned to the facts that were presented.

"What d'you mean?"

"I don't know, some kind of virus. Converting human beings into these things." He nodded toward the bodies around them. "But why? What's the point?" He looked at Astrid and saw in her eyes sorrow. She wasn't looking at him, but at the people around them. The reality of what she had seen on TV was hitting home again.

Rose bent over one of the bodies, examining it closely, when suddenly it sat up. She jerked backward in surprise and fear. All the other gas-mask people do the same. They all start saying "mummy" repeatedly. The people began to get out of bed, walking towards them.

Rose was almost breathless. "What's happening?"

The Doctor had no answer. "I don't know." The gas-mask people began to enclose the Doctor, Rose, Astrid, and Jack. The Doctor put himself first, so that he was between Rose and Astrid and the people, as they were forced against the nearest wall. "Don't let them touch you."

"What happens if they touch us?" Rose was almost afraid to ask.

Astrid said quietly, "You're looking at it."

The gas-mask people were still chanting 'mummy' as they backed the four of them against a wall. The patients in the ward enclosed all of them to prevent escape. The people had surrounded the Doctor, Rose and Jack, all of them calling for 'mummy'.

[to be continued…]

* * *

><p><em>What do you think? Reviews are love! No one reviewed the last couple chapters. I know they were short, but feedback would be really nice, people!<em>


	11. The Doctor Dances

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 11: The Doctor Dances**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** My wonderful beta is peaceloverhealer101.

_Astrid's thoughts_

* * *

><p>The gas-mask people were surrounding Rose, Astrid, the Doctor and Jack. Then - the Doctor stared sternly around at them. His tone suggested that they were all very disobedient children. "Go to your room." The gas-mask people all hesitated. "Go to your room!" The people all cocked their heads to one side, all in the same direction, as if they didn't quite understand. Astrid grinned at her Doctor—<em>my Doctor? Okay, that cinches it. I'm dancing with him in this episode! <em>"I mean it! I am very, very angry with you. I am very, VERY cross! Go. To. Your. ROOM!" He pointed violently up and to the left. Even though his face was a mask of sternness, there was surprise in his eyes. He watched, holding the position and expression until all the patients climbed back onto their beds. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm really glad that worked. Those would've been TERRIBLE last words." Astrid gave a small bark of laughter and she reached up to hug him from behind.

* * *

><p>Rose sat beside one of the beds, looking at one of the gas-mask people as closely as she could without touching. Astrid watched Jack settle down in the chair Dr. Constantine had changed in and put his feet up on the desk.<p>

Rose was still confused though. She looked behind her at the other—relatively—normal occupants of the room. "Why are they all wearing gas masks?"

Jack's tone was very frank. "They're not. Those masks are flesh and bone."

The Doctor refocused the conversation onto things he didn't know yet. "How was your con supposed to work?"

Jack didn't know what he had done. _He's still convinced that he didn't do this._ "Simple enough, really. Find some harmless piece of space-junk; let the nearest Time Agent track it back to Earth. Convince him it's valuable and name a price. When he's put 50% up front - oops! A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for. Never knows he's been had. I buy him a drink with his own money, and we discuss dumb luck. The perfect self-cleaning con."

"Yeah. Perfect." The Doctor looked at him with an expression that Astrid couldn't identify, but she was starting to see a trend with those looks. _It's when the Doctor is trying to hold himself back. He's restraining himself._

"The London Blitz is great for self-cleaners. Pompeii's nice if you want to make a vacation of it though. But you've got to set your alarm for Volcano Day." Jack laughed at his own joke. Astrid walked over to him and hit him solidly on the back of his head. That coupled with the Doctor's very blank look made Jack's laughter die away. "Getting a hint of disapproval."

Astrid shook her head, "I forgot how much of an idiot you when you were young." Jack's expression changed to both surprise and annoyance. "Look around, Jack. This is what your 'harmless piece of space-junk' did!"

Jack half-glared at the little slip of a girl. She was barely five feet three inches, the shortest one in the room. How dare she talk to him like this? "It was a burnt-out medical transporter, it was empty."

The Doctor touched Astrid's shoulder and she looked at him before nodding. He glanced over at the blond. "Rose."

Rose gave one look at Jack before starting to follow her sister. "We getting out of here?"

The Doctor pointed over his head. "We're going upstairs."

Jack got up out of his seat and called out after them. "I even programmed the flight computer so it wouldn't land on anything living. I harmed no-one!" His tone got a bit quieter, more earnest. "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me. I had nothing to do with it."

The Doctor looked back at him and sarcastically answered, "I'll tell you what's happening. You forgot to set your alarm clock. It's Volcano Day."

A siren began to go off in the distance. Without being asked, Astrid told Rose quietly, "It's the all clear."

The Doctor looked at the brunette and shook his head. "I wish." She caught his look and nodded in agreement. He left the ward, Astrid by his side, holding his left hand. _I probably won't survive 'Bad Wolf' and the Daleks…I should enjoy the time I have left while I can. Which means dancing. Ooo…wonder if I can kiss him?_ Rose and Jack follow them.

Apparently they were going too fast for Rose and Jack to follow them adequately, because they got separated. _Or Rose and Jack completely missed the huge 'STAIRS' sign._ She heard Jack call out for 'Mr. Spock' and Rose for the Doctor and laughed. She heard them start to run past the stairs and pushed her head over the banister. "Over here, sillies!"

The Doctor poked his head over to look at the cocky young man. "Have you got a blaster?"

Rose and Jack skidded to a halt, backtracked, and looked up at the pair of them. Jack called up, "Sure!" They ran up the stairs to catch up with the two brunettes and found themselves at a locked metal door.

"The night your space-junk landed, someone was hurt. This was where they were taken." The Doctor explained.

"What happened?" Rose asked, curious.

"Let's find out." The Doctor turned to Jack and motioned to the door. "Get it open." He stepped out of the way as Jack pulled out a gun-like object that glowed at one point in the middle with blue light. Jack pointed it at the door.

Rose quietly whispered, "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?"

Astrid giggled and answered. "Nothing, he just wants to see Jack's equipment."

Jack's blaster cut a perfectly square hole around the lock of the door and it squeaked open. Now the Doctor knew exactly where and when the former Time Agent had been. "Sonic blaster, 51st century. Weapon Factories of Villengard."

Jack was now intrigued. "You've been to the factories?"

The Doctor took the blaster from Jack so that he could have a closer look. "Once."

"Well, they're gone now, destroyed. Main reactor went critical, vaporized the lot." Jack's tone was a sad resignation.

"Like I said. Once." The Doctor gave the blaster back. "There's a banana grove there now. I like bananas. Bananas are good." He smiled pleasantly at Jack and entered the room, Astrid right behind him, giggling softly. He looked at her in question and she grinned up at him.

"I always liked that line." He gave a quiet laugh at that. He moved into the room beyond the door, found the light switch and flicked it on. The room had been an observation room of the room beyond the broken glass window. Something/someone had broken out of the hospital room through the window, tossing glass and machinery every which-a-way. There were broken things all over the floor, including an overturned chair.

The Doctor looked over at Rose and Jack as they entered the room. He didn't have to ask his Star, he knew that she knew what had happened. "What do you think?"

"SOMETHING got out of here." Jack's answer was incredibly short.

The Doctor wanted him to think, and really think. Star had said that Jack was like a brother, and that he was currently a lot more juvenile than she remembered. Who better to make a grown man grow up but the Doctor? "Yeah. And?"

Astrid had the sense that Jack was half-way guessing when he answered further. "Something powerful. Angry."

But Jack was right this time. The Doctor nodded in acceptance. It was good enough for now. "Powerful and angry."

Jack entered a room beyond by a door to the side. Astrid knew that every surface, floor and walls that could be reached by a four year old, was covered with drawings. A few toys were scattered around, some broken, some not and a little bed lay in the corner.

Jack hadn't actually seen Jamie yet, he didn't quite understand. "A child? I suppose this explains 'mummy'."

"How could a child do this?" Rose was incredulous.

Astrid had watched as the Doctor fixed the tape player and he flicked the 'on' switch. A tape of Doctor Constantine talking to Jamie began to play. Astrid looked down in sorrow. _He's just a little boy looking for his mommy. He never wanted to hurt anyone. _She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into the Doctor's compassionate eyes. "All he wants is to know, Doctor. He's four, he doesn't understand." The Doctor nodded and they moved into the room, all the time the tape playing in the background.

"Do you know where you are?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"Are you aware of what's around you? Can you...see?"

"Are you my mummy?"

"What do you want? Do you know—"

"I want my mummy! Are you my mummy? I want my mummy. Are you my mummy?"

As they looked closely at all the drawings, you could see that every single one of them, every one, was of a female. All of them were girls, presumably the child's mother.

"Are you my mummy? Mummy? Mummy?"

Rose pointed to the tape. She was starting to understand. "Doctor, I've heard this voice before."

He nodded. "Me, too."

"Mummy?"

"Always, 'are you my mummy?'. Like he doesn't know." Astrid nodded at Rose's statement. _There we go. Now she's got it._ Rose saw the nod and grew concerned. "Why doesn't he know?"

"Are you there, mummy? Mummy?"

The reels of the tape spun, making a very distinctive sound. Astrid watched as the Doctor began pacing the room, she ignored Rose's question.

"Mummy? Please, mummy? Mummy?"

Rose was getting concerned. "Doctor?"

"Can you sense it?" He kept pacing, his tone starting to get a bit stressed.

Jack hadn't gotten the idea that the Doctor wasn't human, but he would soon. "Sense what?"

The Doctor's voice was so tense. Astrid watched him solemnly from her perch on the end rail of little Jamie's bed. "Coming out of the walls, can you feel it?" He could see her out of the corner of his eye, they were both across the room from Rose and Jack. Astrid was watching him silently, but every now and again, her eyes would drift to the drawings and the look in her eyes. Even if she didn't know how or why, she had a small empathic response. He knew she had strong protective mothering instincts, and perhaps this room brought them out, or she was—at least in a tiny manner—truly empathic. Some humans were gifted with psychic connections. It was part of the reason they were so great. Gandhi himself was a very gifted empath, as was Madam Curie. It was too early to tell which Star was, and he had more important problems than his own curiosity.

"Mummy?"

All these thoughts about his Star did bring out the incredulousness he felt toward the other two though. Even if it was only mother instincts on Star's part, Rose should have the same ones. Jack should at least feel some sort of protective instinct. It was part of evolution to protect the children. How can the next generation continue if you don't protect them? "Funny little human brains, how do you get around in those things?"

Rose sighed and explained to Jack in an almost breathless tone. "When he's stressed, he likes to insult species."

The Doctor was still pacing, trying to understand. He could feel the emotions of the room coming out of the walls, but he couldn't quite place it. The emotions were child-like and viewed as a child views the world. "Rose, I'm thinking." It had been a long time since he was a child.

"Cuts himself shaving. Does half an hour in life forms he's cleverer than." Rose continued, unheeding.

"There are these children living rough around the bomb site. They come out during air-raids looking for food." He had stopped in front of the broken window, facing the other three occupants of the tiny room.

"Mummy, please?"

"Suppose they were there when this thing-whatever it was-landed?" He was starting to put the pieces together.

Jack intoned evenly. "It was a med-ship. It was harmless."

"Yes, you keep saying. 'Harmless'." He glared at Jack before looking at Rose. "Suppose one of them was affected-altered?"

Rose knew when the Doctor was on a roll and knew how to keep him going. "Altered how?"

"I'm here!"

The Doctor suddenly had a light go off in his brain; you could see the pieces click into place as he figured it out. "It's afraid. Terribly afraid, and powerful. It doesn't know it yet, but it will do."  
>He gave a small laugh and smiled. "It's got the power of a god, and I just sent it to its room."<p>

Astrid nodded and got to her feet, coming up off the small bed and around to the others. She heard the loud, crackling sound filling the room where before the background of the child's voice and Dr. Constantine took it up, that is what she now heard. She also was very thankful for her earring filters; she knew that without them, that noise would have her wincing because it was so loud. It was even making Rose scared. "Doctor…" The child said something, but Rose was focusing on that noise she couldn't identify. "What's that noise?"

"I'm here. Can't you see me?"

The Doctor's smile faded as he focused his massive intellect on her question. "End of the tape. It ran out about 30 seconds ago."

"I'm here, now. Can't you see me?"

"I sent it to its room. THIS is its room." The Doctor spun around and there was Jamie, still wearing a gas-mask, just standing there in the observation room behind the tape machine.

"Are you my mummy?" Jamie cocked his head to one side and looked in Rose's direction, then Astrid's direction. "Mummy?" He focused more on Astrid, after all, she did have the same color hair as who he thought his mother was, and she was the shortest person in the room too. _Oh crap, never thought about this part. _

Jack began to move closer to the others and quietly said, "Okay...on my signal...make for the door. NOW!" He violently produced a banana and pointed it threateningly at Jamie as he rested his hands on the Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor grinned widely, pulled out Jack's blaster, pointed it at the wall and pulled the trigger. It made a rather large square hole, big enough to jump through easily. "Go! Now! Don't drop the banana!"

Jack was still a bit slow on how the Doctor handled situations. _He really doesn't like guns…which is kinda funny, 'cause he has no problem with explosives. _Jack hopped through the hole after Rose, Astrid was motioned through after the other American, and the Doctor was last. "Why not? !"

Astrid laughed at Jack and was grinning just as wide as the Doctor was wont to do, exclaimed at the exact same time as the Doctor, "Good source of potassium!"

Of course, now they were in a hospital corridor. The little boy was fast enough that he was already in the room, coming toward them. Jack snatched his blaster back from the Doctor. "Give me that!" Jack pointed it at the wall and it rebuilt itself, blocking Jamie…for a little while at least. "Digital rewind." He explained. He tossed the banana back to the Doctor and reluctantly said, "Nice switch."

The Doctor didn't know that they were still in danger. He was smiling. "It's from the Groves of Villengard. I thought it was appropriate."

"There's really a banana grove in the heart of Villengard and you did that?" Jack was incredulous.

Astrid spoke up; ruining her quiet set up, but it was for a really good reason. "Bananas are good. And getting out of here would be better. I know that I'm only a human from another dimension with knowledge of the future, but now would be a REALLY good time to run."

As if to prove her point, Jamie began to hit the wall from the other side and it began to crack and bulge under the pressure.

"Doctor!" Rose called out in fear.

"Come on!" They rushed down a short flight of stairs and down another corridor, before they encountered all the patients bursting out of the ward calling 'mummy'. They hastily backtracked, but they found the gas-mask people coming from that direction too. Now they were back at the point where they started, where the child was still breaking through the wall. "It's keeping us here so it can get at us."

Jack couldn't decide which direct would be better to point his blaster. "It's controlling them?"

"It IS them. It's every living thing in this hospital." The Doctor explained.

Jack, being from the Time Agency, was a bit military minded in these sorts of situations. "Okay. This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and it's a triple-enfolded sonic disrupter. Doc, whatcha got?"

The Doctor took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, but Jack was not looking as he was too busy brandishing his sonic device at the gas-mask people. "A sonic, er…oh, never mind."

"What?" Jack put himself between the people and the girls, Rose closest to him, facing outward to point his weapon at them.

The Doctor was faced the other direction, "It's sonic, okay? Let's leave it at that." The Doctor turned to face the other group of gas-mask people, switching on his sonic screwdriver.

Jack demanded an answer though. "Disrupter? Cannon? What?"

"It's sonic! Totally sonic! I am sonic-ed up!"

"A sonic WHAT?" _You know, when you are actually IN the corridor fearing for your life, this seems vastly inappropriate and I wish they would hurry it up!_

"SCREWDRIVER!" _Ah, thanks Doctor. I feel better. _

_Or not…_ Even as Jack spun around in shock at the confession, the little four year old boy finally managed to punch through the wall. Astrid's eyes widened and she looked at Rose. Rose was watching the boy. As Jamie began to climb through, Rose grabbed Jack's wrist and physically made him point the blaster at the floor and pulled the trigger. "Going down!" The floor disappeared beneath them and they all fell in a messy tangled heap on the floor of the ward below.

The seventh floor ward was dark as Jack found the switch for the digital rewind and made the hole created become a ceiling so that they couldn't be followed. Rose asked quietly, "Doctor, Astrid, are you okay?"

"Could've used a warning."

Astrid gave a short laugh. "She did give a warning; it just wasn't suitable enough for your sensibilities."

Jack was still caught up on one detail. "Who has a sonic screwdriver?"

"I do!"

Rose was looking around, feeling her way through the room. "Light!"

The boys were a bit preoccupied with measuring their equipment. "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'Oh, this could be a little more sonic'?"

The Doctor was indignant in his defense of his most prized possession outside of the TARDIS itself. "What, you've never been bored?"

Rose was still poking around in the dark. "There's gotta be a light switch!" _I wonder if she's afraid of the dark? The Doctor already said…will say…that it's not an irrational fear, and it's perfectly normal. And he is SO not paying attention is he?_

He was still defending his screwdriver. "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?"

Rose finally found a switch and turned the lights on. All the gas-mask people lying in the beds immediately sat up and start calling 'mummy'. _Crap, why is it I always forget the details? I guess in this scene I was more occupied with laughing at the escapades of the boys._

Jack spotted a door off to the side and said as much as they all rushed to it. The patients all started to get out of bed. Jack tried to open it with his blaster but it just fizzled and died. "Damn it!" The Doctor gently pushed him out of the way and used his sonic screwdriver instead. Jack whacked his hand against the gun, as if that would help. "It's the special features, they really drain the battery."

Rose couldn't quite believe that a 51st century gun would even NEED such a 21st century invention. "The battery?"The Doctor opened the door and they all ran through it as Rose continued. "That's so lame."

They entered a storeroom, bits and odds and ends strewn around. Only one window that was covered in bars. Jack ran to the window to look out as he spoke angrily. "I was gonna send for another one, but SOMEBODY'S got to blow up the factory." He turned to glare at the Doctor as he used the sonic screwdriver to lock the door.

Rose had a small sense of realization in her voice. "Oh, I know. First day I met him, he blew my job up. That's practically how he communicates."

Jack jumped down from the window ledge and walked across the room toward Rose. The Doctor was finished with the door and came through as well. They met in the middle to…discuss things. "Okay, that door should hold it for a bit."

"The door? The WALL didn't stop it!"

"Well, it's gotta FIND us first! Come on, we're not done yet! Assets, assets!"

"Well, I've got a banana, and at a pinch you could put up some shelves." _Okay, that's enough._

Astrid walked over and slapped the back of Jack's head. When he turned to look at her, she was giving him a very stern, angry look. "That's enough, Jack. You're not helping." He accepted her statements with a nod. He didn't really know how to handle the brown-haired girl. She said she was his sister, but the only real things they had in common were eye and hair color. Also he didn't remember her at all. All of a sudden, he had a younger sister, who treated him like an older brother easily. If it wasn't for that last part, he wouldn't believe her.

The Doctor went to the window and looked out. "Window?"

Jack curbed his tone to be more fact-oriented. "Barred, sheer drop outside. Seven stories." He sat down in a rolling chair.

Rose looked around and commented. "And no other exits."

"Well, the assets conversation went in a flash, didn't it?" He winced as the slap to the back of his head was harder this time.

The Doctor turned around from his spot at the window; he stared at Jack for a second before looking at Rose. "So, where'd you pick this one up, then?"

Rose muttered under her breath warningly. "Doctor."

Jack had a huge smile on his face. "She was hanging from a barrage balloon. I had an invisible spaceship. I never stood a CHANCE." Rose looked slightly uncomfortable by what he was saying, but Astrid was almost positive that it was from embarrassment.

"Okay. One, we've got to get out of here. Two, we CAN'T get out of here. Have I missed anything?" By this time the Doctor was facing the window again and missed the sound of Jack's teleport.

Rose didn't though and looked in the direction of the sound. Her voice held wonder. "Yeah…Jack just disappeared."

The Doctor spun around to stare at the empty wheelchair that had formerly held the sarcastic captain.

* * *

><p>Rose was pacing this time. "Okay, so he's vanished into thin air. Why is it always the GREAT looking ones who do that?"<p>

The Doctor looked up from his position in the wheelchair. "I'm making an effort not to be insulted."

Astrid was standing, leaning up against the wall. She blushed hotly, but said to him in a very earnest tone. "I think you're great looking."

He looked over at her and gave her a wide ear-splitting grin. "Okay. Thanks."

An old radio suddenly sprang to life, lighting up with a golden yellow hue. Jack's voice transmitted through it. "Rose? Doctor? Can you hear me?"

Astrid glared at the radio. "What am I? Chopped liver?" She stayed where she was, watching as the Doctor traced back the wires for the radio and found that they had been completely ripped out and were frayed on the end beyond repair.

Jack was still talking of course. "I'm back on my ship. Used the emergency teleport. Sorry I couldn't take you. It's security-keyed to my molecular structure. I'm working on it. Hang in there." They heard him do something to make a whirring noise.

The Doctor was sensing another piece of the puzzle. "How're you speaking to us?"

Jack answered easily; he didn't understand the significance yet. "Om-Com. I can call anything with a speaker grill."

The Doctor's face was back to being blank. "Now there's a coincidence."

"What is?" Jack asked.

"The child can Om-Com too."

"He can?" Rose hadn't actually experienced the unique, really intimidating, form of communication yet.

The Doctor nodded gravely. "Anything with a speaker grill. Even the TARDIS phone."

"What, you mean the child can phone us?"

Little Jamie's voice came through the radio too as he said in a very sing-song voice, "And I can hear you. Coming to find you. Coming to fiiiiind you."

Jack was concerned, rightly so. "Doctor, can you hear that?"

"Loud and clear."

"I'll try to block out the signal. Least I can do." _Heck yeah, you made this problem!_

"Coming to find you, mummy!"

Jack had a tone of amusement in his voice as he asked innocently, "Remember this one, Rose?" Glen Miller began to play through the radio a slow steady melody that was comforting. _I think it's called 'Moonlight Serenade'…I was always more partial to the upbeat ones like 'In The Mood'. _

Rose looked ever so slightly uncomfortable as the Doctor turned to look at her questioningly. She was slightly embarrassed as she explained. "Our song." Rose shifted from foot to foot. Astrid gave a small chuckle.

The Doctor looked at the brunette female and smiled softly. She winked at him in response.

[break]

Rose shuffled around in the wheel chair, intensely bored. The radio still played 'Moonlight Serenade'. _Okay, I am starting to really hate this song…after a constant repeat it gets really boring. _The buzzing of the sonic screwdriver was in the background as the Doctor was standing vigil at the window, doing something to the bars. Rose spun the wheel chair around in the Doctor's direction. Astrid was sitting on the ledge that the Doctor was standing on, watching with her back against the wall.

Rose was bored enough to ask something probably best not to ever ask the Doctor. "What are you doing?"

The Doctor answered absently. "Trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete. Loosen the bars."

"You don't think he's coming back, do ya?"

"Wouldn't bet my life." _Or ours._

"Why don't you trust him?"

"Why do you?"

"Saved my life. Bloke-wise, that's up there with flossing." Astrid laughed at that one. Rose looked at her and smiled in return. The Doctor didn't answer though and Rose continued. "I trust him 'cos he's like you. Except with dating and dancing."

The Doctor glanced back at her with a very irritated expression and shook his head before focusing back on the bars.

Rose had caught the look though and was confused. "What?"

"You just assume I'm..."

"What?"

The Doctor was facing the window as he answered, Astrid thought it could be because he wasn't used to the personal questions."You just assume that I don't...dance."

Rose was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "What? Are you telling me you DO…dance?"

"Nine hundred years old, me. I've been around a bit. I think you can assume that at some point I've DANCED." _Ummm…don't think they are talking about dancing anymore. Oooo…does that mean I don't have to die a virgin? Nah, don't think I want to go that fast with him. Or him with me._

Astrid was shaken from her thoughts as the Doctor said in an off-hand manner something that had her blushing scarlet. "Well, I've got the moves but I wouldn't want to boast."

Rose, still grinning, stopped shuffling around in her wheelchair and got up to turn the music louder. The Doctor looked around, completely wrong-footed. Rose walked slowly forward, flirtatiously. He looked determinedly back to the wall. Rose was grinning just as big as the Doctor did usually, she snagged Astrid's hand and pulled her onto her feet and into the floor and Rose moved the wheelchair out of the way. Rose called up to the Doctor, "You've got the moves? Show me your moves. Dance with Astrid."

By this time, Astrid was blushing crimson enough that she wouldn't be surprised to see a glow. The Doctor seemed to take pity on her…_or he just isn't interested _when he said, "Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete."

Rose didn't back down though, she escalated, offering her hand up to him to help him down from the ledge. "Jack'll be back, he'll get us out. So come on. The world doesn't end 'cause the Doctor dances."

The Doctor snapped off his sonic screwdriver, replacing it in his jacket pocket and stepped away from the window towards her, an odd expression on his face. He jumped down to stand in front of Rose for a moment. Astrid would have been offended if she didn't know what was happening and what had gotten his attention. He took Rose's hands; she was staring up at him almost apprehensively. He turned her hands over and looked at them. "Barrage balloon?"

Astrid took pity on Rose this time, she remembered the tongue-tied girl from the show. "Jack has nanogenes on his ship that took care of Rose's hands."

Rose grinned at her friend and pulled out of his hands to shove Astrid into her place. "You'll find your feet at the end of your legs. You may care to move them."

Astrid was blushing and confessed softly, whispering to him, "I don't know how to dance."

He gave her a small smile, took her hands gently in his own and just moved his hips side to side for the slow song. She couldn't take her eyes off of his blue ones, starting to be drawn into their depths as she experienced her first dance. The world seemed to dissolve away from her when she was in his arms.

Which was suddenly shaken when she heard Jack's voice from behind them, making them both turn immediately in surprise. All around was the inside of Jack's ship, exactly as she remembered it. "Most people notice when they've been teleported. You guys are so sweet. Sorry about the delay. I had to take the Nav-Com offline to override the teleport security."

Astrid sighed in defeat. _Is that all the dance I'm going to get? I was starting to really enjoy that…wow…now I know why some people think dancing is erotic._ Rose gave her a sympathetic look to which Astrid shrugged.

Jack ducked down into a compartment beneath his chair, saying that he'd be back in five minutes.

The Doctor was looking around and noticed a very important detail. "This is a Chula ship."

Jack's voice came up to them. "Yeah, just like that medical transporter." His head popped back up to give them a very serious look. "Only, this one IS dangerous."

The Doctor snapped his fingers, and his hand was instantly surrounded by nanogenes. "Sub-atomic robots. There's millions of them in here, see? Burned my hand on the console when we landed…all better now. They activate when the bulkheads sealed. Check you out for damage, fix any physical flaws." The Doctor banished the nanogenes with a wave of his hand. Rose beamed up as he glared at Jack. "Take us to the crash site. I need to see your 'space junk'."

Jack acted as though he was being nagged. "As soon as I get the Nav-Com back online." The Doctor glared at the sarcastic American in annoyance. "Make yourself comfortable. Carry on with whatever it was you were..." Jack gestured to Astrid, "…doing." She blushed hotly again. _This is becoming a trend. I don't like blushing damnit!_

The Doctor sounded innocent; he didn't want to embarrass Astrid. "We were talking about dancing!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "It didn't look like talking."

Rose also put in her two cents, making Astrid blush again, this time in shame. "It didn't look like dancing." The Doctor gave the brunette girl a small encouraging smile, but she didn't look up to see it.

* * *

><p>Rose was talking to Jack and Astrid was sitting beside the Doctor. She finally spoke, "I'm sorry that Rose forced you to dance with me. I didn't hurt you, did I?" <em>People always talk about how they step on people's toes when they dance.<em>

The look he gave her was surprise. "If I didn't want to dance, I wouldn't have. No, you didn't hurt me." He was quiet for several seconds, listening to Jack and Rose before he said. "Have you really never been dancing before?"

Astrid shook her head. "There was this program in school that taught swing-dancing for a Holocaust project. But that's it." She looked at her clasped hands in her lap. Her accent was coming back, a sign he had learned that she was stressed. "I was a real wall-flower in school when it came to social stuff. I would answer the teacher's questions and things, but no boys were ever interested in me. When I finally got up the courage to ask them, they never accepted. I went on a few blind dates that ended poorly. Finally, I just decided that I would worry about dating and…dancing…after I graduated college."

He nodded in understanding just as the computer beeped. He looked up when Jack called back to them, "Okay, we're good to go. Crash site?"

* * *

><p>They walked through the railway station, trains all around them. The bombsite was near and they hurried over to peak over barbed wire to see what they could. Jack was the one to state the obvious. "There it is." He saw the main officer and grinned. "Hey, they've got Algy on duty. Must be important."<p>

The Doctor was a bit impatient. _Can't blame him._ "We've gotta get past him."

Rose was slightly breathless. "Are the words 'distract the guard' heading in my general direction?"

Jack shook his head. "I don't think that'd be such a good idea."

Rose was almost soothing him as she said, "Don't worry, I can handle it."

"I've got to know Algy quite well since I've been in town. Trust me. You're not his type. I'll distract him." He walked away from them, and then waved slightly. "Don't wait up."

Astrid giggled. "Relax, Rose. He's from the 51st century; they are a bit flexible when it comes to dating and dancing."

Rose had wide eyes. "HOW flexible?"

The Doctor was having fun, payback for making Astrid embarrassed with the dancing. "Well, by his time, you lot have spread out across half the galaxy."

"Meaning?"

He grinned at her teasingly. "So many species, so little time!"

"What, that's what we do when we get out there? That's our mission? We seek new life, and... and..."

Astrid 'helped' her with a huge smile on her face. "Dance. Lots of dancing. Honestly, I have no idea how he's still clean, but you would think by the 51st century they would have cures for most of the diseases."

"Oh yeah." The Doctor said absently, watching the proceedings below them.

Algy coughed and fell to his knees. Before the very eyes of Jack, Astrid, Rose and the Doctor, his face transformed into a gas mask. Jack was horror-struck. The other soldiers began to hurry over. The Doctor saw what was happening and yelled out, "Stay back!"

Jack also took charge of the situation. "You men! Stay away!" Astrid, Rose and the Doctor rushed over to Jack and Algy, who was lying on the ground, lifeless. Rose stared down at him in shock, Astrid stared in sorrow.

The Doctor was frank. "The effect's become air-borne. Accelerating."

"What's keeping US safe?" Rose asked in fear.

He wouldn't lie to her. "Nothing."

The air raid siren began to blare out across the station.

Rose breathed out, "All we need." She looked at Jack as something occurred to her. "Didn't you say a bomb was gonna land...HERE?"

Jack nodded his head in confirmation. The Doctor shook his head to dismiss the unnecessary information, he already knew it. "Never mind about that. If the contaminant's air-born now, there's hours left."

"'Til what?" Jack still didn't understand.

"'Til nothing. Forever. For the entire human race. And can anyone else hear singing?"

They turn to the shed to their left where 'Rock-a-by Baby' was being sung by Nancy. She didn't have half a bad voice, but no training.

The door creaked open. Nancy turned her head sharply to see the Doctor poke his head into the shed, Astrid right beside him. He motioned for her to continue singing.

#Rock-a-by baby... # She jerked her wrist against the handcuffs to show why she hadn't left yet._ # _... on the tree tops, when the wind blows the cradle will rock...#

The Doctor approached her, taking his sonic screwdriver out of his jacket pocket. He flicked it on and began to unlock her handcuffs. Rose and Jack appeared in the doorway behind Astrid. The handcuffs snapped open, Nancy stood, and they all left the shed, leaving Jenkins fast asleep.

They went back to the bomb site, and the Doctor and Jack uncovered the Chula med-ship as the huge flood lights illuminated the entire area, which has a tarpaulin over it, hiding it from view. Nancy and Rose watched to one side. Astrid waited right at the top of the ambulance, using the bars that made the hub as a ladder to see better, since the boys were using the sides.

Jack, of course, was still indignant that it wasn't his fault. "You see? Just an ambulance." Astrid looked over as Nancy asked a question, but let Rose take care of it. Nancy was only a year younger than herself, and could easily take care of herself. Jack was messing with the controls. "They've been trying to get in."

The Doctor gave him a 'duh' look. "Of COURSE they have." He watched as Jack began to enter a code. "They think they've got their hands on Hitler's latest secret weapon. What're you doing?"

"The sooner you see this thing is empty, the sooner you'll see I had nothing to do with it."

The controls exploded with a shower of sparks, and they all jumped backwards. Astrid gave a gasp of surprise and fell off of the back of the 'bomb', right on her ass. _Well, at least I had cushioning…and hey, I didn't get hurt this time! That's a miracle in and of itself!_ An alarm started to go off. _Oh, I am so glad I've got my earring-filters, that's annoying even WITH them in, don't want to imagine what it would be without them._

Jack was talking again. "Didn't happen last time."

The Doctor explained; he was the expert. "It hadn't crashed last time. There'll be emergency protocols."

Rose had noticed the red light blinking in time with the alarm. "Doctor, what IS that?"The gates were shaking and Rose cried out in fear. "Doctor!"

He took control. "Captain, secure those gates!"

Jack was being difficult. _At a time like this, he decides to be difficult. _"Why?"

"Just do it!" Both the Doctor and Astrid yelled at him. The Doctor continued, turning to Nancy. "How did you get in here?"

She knew how to handle bad situations. She lived in the London Blitz. Her tone was frank and she was concise. "I cut the wire."

"Show Rose." He tossed his sonic screwdriver to the blond. "Setting 2,428-D. Reattaches barbed wire. Go!"

Jack slammed the gate shut.

* * *

><p>Astrid stuck close to the Doctor, watching as Jack slid open the hatch of the medical transport ship. Jack was full of righteousness. Trouble was, he was so sure he was right, that he never thought of what could be the case if he was wrong. "It's empty. Look at it."<p>

Rose and Nancy rejoined them.

"What do you expect in a Chula medical transporter? Bandages? Cough drops? Rose?" The Doctor demanded of Jack and then turned to someone who knew, even if they didn't.

"I dunno."

"Yes, you do." He held out his hand in the same manner he had when he had summoned the nanogenes on Jack's ship.

Her face lit up in understanding. "Nanogenes!"

The Doctor turned back to Jack. "It wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in there to rebuild a species."

Jack took a step back. His face went ashen as he finally understood the depth of his mistake. "Oh, God."

"Getting it now, are we? When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escape. Billions upon billions of them, ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole world. But what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night and wearing a gasmask."

"And they brought him back to life? They can DO that?" Rose was incredulous and amazed.

"What's life? Life's easy. A quirk of matter. Nature's way of keeping meat fresh. Nothing to a nanogene. One problem, though. These nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship. This lot have never seen a human being before. Don't know what a human being's supposed to look like." Jack, Rose and Nancy were hanging onto his every word. Astrid was watching the Doctor's face. He was angry, so angry. "All they've got to go on is one little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on. They do what they're programmed to do, they patch it up. Can't tell what's gas-mask and what's skull, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cause you see, NOW they THINK they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother. And NOTHING in the world can stop it!" He was shouting at the end, glaring at Jack who finally was understood.

But he was still defiant. "I didn't know."

Astrid gave him a blank look and commented softly, "That never works in court either, Jack."

The Doctor fixed him with a cold stare for a few seconds, and then went back to examining the med-ship, starting to work with his sonic screwdriver. There was a very tense couple of minutes, bombs dropping and exploding in the background.

Nancy stareed into the distance, beyond the fence. The gasmask people had arrived, still calling 'mummy'. Nancy was scared as she called out to the blond. "Rose?" Rose rushed to Nancy's side, following her gaze. The gasmask people stumbled towards them over the rail-track. They were quite a distance away, but still too close. Rose rushed back to the med-ship, and looked again at the flashing red light on the control panel. She might not know as much as the Doctor, but she was intelligent. She looked at him and asked urgently. "It's bringing the gas-mask people here, isn't it?"

"The ship thinks it's under attack. It's calling up the troops. Standard protocol."

"But, the gas-mask people aren't troops!"

Astrid said quietly from her perch on top of the ambulance. "They are now, Rose."

The Doctor looked up at her and nodded. :This is a battlefield ambulance. The nanogenes don't just fix you up; they get you ready for the front line. Equip you, program you."

"That's why the child's so strong? Why it could do that phoning thing?"

"It's a fully equipped Chula warrior, yes. All that weapons tech in the hands of a hysterical four year old - looking for his mummy and now there's an army of them."

The gas-mask people were now surrounding the fence, fencing in the five people next to the ambulance. All of them calling out 'mummy'. But they stopped at the boundary the fence created.

"Why don't they attack?" Jack was asking, probably looking for a weakness.

The Doctor had to dash those hopes. "Good little soldiers. Waiting for their commander."

Jack was incredulous. "The child?"

"Jamie." Nancy said gently.

He didn't understand. "What?"

She glared at him, angry. "Not 'the child'. Jamie." The Doctor looked at her, a glimmer of an idea in his mind.

Rose wasn't sure which threat she was more worried about. "So, how long until the bomb falls?"

"Any second." Jack was worried too.

"What's the matter, Captain? Bit close to the volcano for you?" The Doctor glared at him in passing as he went toward Nancy.

Nancy was looking at him, trying to make him understand. Or maybe to explain it to herself. "He's just a little boy."

Astrid nodded as the Doctor said, "I know."

Nancy was starting to get upset enough that her voice was shaking. "He's just a little boy who wants his mummy."

"I know. There isn't a little boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to save his mummy. And this little boy can."

Rose was now really scared. "So what're we gonna do?"

"I don't know."

Rose sighed and looked at Astrid, but the brunette was actually starting to look like she did when they had first landed. She was beginning to smile. Amidst all of the bombs dropping, the gas-mask people all around them calling out 'mummy', the brunette was _smiling_. Rose stared in disbelief. She was avidly watching Nancy and the Doctor, leaning forward on her perch to get as close as she could without moving from her spot. Rose moved to her side and focused in the same direction.

She saw tears well up in Nancy's eyes as the girl confessed. "It's my fault."

"No." The Doctor said gently.

"It is. It's all my fault." Her voice broke.

He gave her a soft smile of compassion. "How can it be your-" he was cut off as all the gas-mask people around them began to call out stronger than ever. The Doctor spun around to look at them all; in so doing he saw the expression on Astrid's face, her joy. She looked straight in his eyes and nodded urgently. So he was right. He went back to Nancy. "Nancy, what age are you? Twenty? Twenty-one? Older than you look, yes?"

A bomb landed nearby, loud enough that all of them flinched.

"Doctor - that bomb. We've got _seconds._" Jack was afraid.

Another landed even closer than the last.

Rose looked at Jack. "You can teleport us out."

Neither the Doctor nor Astrid was paying them any attention, eyes fixed on the sobbing Nancy.

Jack spoke to Rose, answering her unasked question. "Not you guys. The Nav-Com's back online. Gonna take too long to override the protocols."

The Doctor was looking at Nancy with such a beautiful expression. He understood. His mind was working furiously. Astrid had said before that this story had a fantastic ending; he would make sure that she wasn't a liar. He spoke to Jack in an even tone, no inflection other than mild interest. "So it's Volcano Day. Do what you've got to do."

Rose couldn't stop staring at Jack, her tone full of betrayal. "Jack?" He looked at her almost apologetically. He made a decision and clicked a button in his hand, teleporting away from the bomb range.

The Doctor was still focused on Nancy. "How old were you five years ago? Fifteen? Sixteen? Old enough to give birth, anyway." Nancy, still sobbing, glanced up at him and then away again, shame faced."He's not your brother, is he?" She shook her head, sobbing. "A teenage single mother in 1941. So you hid. You lied." She nodded again. Astrid, watching all of it avidly, was starting to cry herself, but they were in empathy. Her own smile didn't fade one bit. "You even lied to him."

The gates swung open. Jamie stood at the forefront of an army of gas-mask people, ready to charge. His voice was so sweet; it belied the severity of what he could do. "Are you my mummy?"

"He's gonna keep asking, Nancy. He's never gonna stop. Tell him." The Doctor's voice was so gentle as he forced her to understand. He wanted that happy ending. He didn't quite know how it would happen yet, but by Astrid's face, knew this was the way to go. Nancy didn't answer him though, didn't move, she just kept crying. The gas-mask people began to move forward with Jamie. "Nancy, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me…and tell him." As Jamie approached them, he gave her a very gentle push in the direction of her son.

"Are you my mummy?"

She whispered the words in the beginning. "Yes." But it wasn't long before her voice got stronger. "Yes. I AM your mummy."She faced him. The little boy walked slowly forward.

His voice changed to one of excitement. "Mummy?"

"I'm here."

But it was gone again. "Are you my mummy?"

She knelt down in front of him; she was so short that even in this position he was taller than her. "I'm here."

"Are you my mummy?"

She whispered. "Yes."

Rose was by the Doctor's left side; Astrid had jumped down to be on his right. The Doctor was sad, resigned. "He doesn't understand. There's not enough of him left."

Astrid ignored him for the moment, smiling at the young woman with her son, tears rolling silently down her face.

Nancy, though her voice was filled with tears, was sincere. "I am your mummy. I will always be your mummy. I'm so sorry." Then she hugged him to her chest tightly, she didn't care anymore what might happen to her, she just loved her son.

The nanogenes filled the air around them, surging all around the pair. "I am so, so sorry." Mother and child glowed with golden light. Nancy hugged her little boy tightly, her eyes closed as she stroked his hair lovingly.

Rose didn't understand. Her voice was filled with fear. "Doctor, it's changing her, we should-"

But he held out an arm to silence her. "Shh!" His expression was changing. He had been apprehensive before, but he was now excited. He understood how it could be a happy ending. "Come on, please. Come on, you CLEVER little nanogenes. Figure it out! The mother. She's the mother! There's gotta be enough information. Figure it out!"

"What's happening?"

The Doctor pointed to the nanogenes, one particular part of them was brighter than the rest. "See? Recognizing the same DNA." Nancy fell away from the child tumbling to the ground, as the nanogenes disappeared. The Doctor, Astrid and Rose rushed over, the Doctor staring down at the child, hardly daring to hope. Astrid was grinning so widely though, and the tears had been wiped away. "Oh, come on. Give me a day like this. Give me this one." It was almost like a prayer. He reached out to the gas-mask and it easily came off over the boy's head. The sweet little blond boy underneath looked a little confused. Nancy stared at her son in wonder and amazement. The Doctor laughed ecstatically. He lifted the boy into the air and spun around, making the boy smile. "Ah-ha-ha! Welcome back! Twenty years 'til pop music. You're gonna loveit." He hugged the boy tightly, laughing.

Nancy looked at the Doctor in wonder. "What happened?"

"The nanogenes recognized the superior information. The parent DNA. They didn't change YOU because YOU changed them! Haha!" He set Jamie down in front of her, grinning like a loon Astrid right beside him doing the same. "Mother knows best!"

Nancy held her son, crying this time in happiness. "Jamie!"

Another bomb dropped nearby, making Rose start. "Doctor, that bomb."

"Taken care of it."

"How?"

He gestured to Nancy and Jamie. "Psychology!"

The bomb plummeted towards them and was suddenly snatched out of the air by a blue force field. A moment later, Jack appeared hovering in the tunnel of light, sitting right on top of the bomb. He called down to them. "Doctor!"

"Good lad."

"The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put it in stasis but it won't last long." Jack was urgent.

"Change of plan! Don't need the bomb. Can you get rid of it? Safely as you can?"

Jack focused on the girl he liked. "Rose?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodbye." He disappeared, leaving her very disappointed. Then he reappeared, still on the bomb. "By the way…love the t-shirt." He grinned at her which was returned easily, but she tugged at her t-shirt a little in embarrassment. Jack disappeared again and his ship zoomed off up into the night sky.

As they were conversing, the Doctor had his hands up and was staring at them intently. He summoned the nanogenes and they glowed golden around his hands.

"What're you doing?" Rose called out to him as he made his way slowly forward to face the crowd of gas-mask people.

"Software patch. Gonna email the upgrade. You want moves, Rose? I'll give you moves." He threw his hands forward as if he was rolling a ball, towards the gas-mask people still moving about beyond the fence and in the yard. All of the people fell to the ground, the nanogenes surrounding them tightly, fixing them. The Doctor had on his goofy face, grinning so widely, his face so full of joy that Astrid couldn't help but join him in his enthusiasm. "Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once. Everybody lives!" The gas-mask people got to their feet, but this time, they were back to being their normal selves. The nanogenes flew up and away, kept going to fix all the other mistakes.

The Doctor ran over to Dr. Constantine, happy enough that he was practically hopping. Astrid laughed excitedly. "Doctor Constantine. Who never left his patients. Back on your feet, constant doctor! World doesn't wanna get by without you just yet, and I don't blame it one bit." He gestured around to all the former gas-mask people just milling about. "These are your patients. All better now."

The poor doctor was clearly confused. "Yes, yes... so it seems. They also seem to be standing around in a disused railway station. Is there any particular reason for that?"

The Doctor couldn't stop grinning. "Yeah, well, you know, cutbacks. Listen, whatever was wrong with them in the past, you're probably gonna find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are. Don't make a big thing of it. Okay?" He rushed back off to Rose and Astrid, and began to climb on top of the Chula medical ship. "Right, you lot! Lots to do! Beat the Germans. Save the world. Don't forget the Welfare State!"

Dr. Constantine smiled at the odd man and woman that had come into his life, but he couldn't argue with the results. He gestured to the nurses and everyone began to drift away.

The Doctor was at the controls as he spoke to Rose. "Setting this to self-destruct, soon as everybody's clear. History says there was an explosion here. Who am I to argue with history?"

"Usually the first in line." She grinned at him and they all burst into laughter.

* * *

><p>They walked into the TARDIS, the Doctor and Astrid still both grinning insanely. He was happily chattering away, explaining himself. "The nanogenes will clean up the mess and switch themselves off, because I just told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for help, ditto. All in all, all things considered. Fantastic!" He laughed, Astrid joining him with a wide smile. <em>I love this one…even with all the realism it brings to the fore, in the end…everyone is healthy, happy, and one little boy found his mummy.<em>

Rose was smiling at their enthusiasm. "Look at you, beaming away like you're Father Christmas!"

"Who says I'm not, red-bicycle-when-you-were-twelve?"

Astrid burst into hysterical laughter, leaning on the side seat as she clutched her belly. Rose lost her happiness in her shock. "What?"

The Doctor spread his arms out wide to encompass everything. "And everybody lives, Rose! Everybody lives!" He flipped a switch on the console, beginning to direct Astrid to certain switches and dials. "I need more days like this. Go on, ask me anything. I'm on FIRE!"

"What about Jack?" The Doctor's smile faded, but he doesn't stop working, moving Astrid's hand one button over when she almost vented out the oxygen in the room easily without expression. "Why did he say goodbye?" There was no answer as the Doctor stared intently at the console.

It took about five minutes, since the Doctor had to gently and discretely fix Astrid's mistakes, show her what to do correctly in such a way as to not frustrate her—which he had learned the hard way was a really good way to get an angry, crying girl in the library—so that they appeared in the cargo section of Jack's stolen ship.

Rose was teaching/reminding the Doctor how to dance with 'Moonlight Serenade' so that he could show Astrid. She had seen the problem easily in the storeroom before and knew that this was the best way to fix two problems at once. So far, it wasn't going so well.

Rose called out to Jack. "Well, hurry up then!"

Jack leapt to his feet and dashed into the TARDIS. Rose and the Doctor were waltzing around to 'Moonlight Serenade' by Glen Miller. Rose was teaching the Doctor dance moves, making okaying noises as they danced. Jack looked around at the sheer size of the place, compared with the outside. Astrid was sitting on the bus seat, watching. "Jack! Shut the door! Your ship is about to blow up, there's going to be a draft!"

The Doctor spun Rose around but got tangled. "Okay, okay, try and spin me again, but this time - don't get my arm up my back!" He looked sheepish. "No extra points for a half-nelson."

The Doctor was getting a little irritated, mostly at himself. "I'm SURE I used to know this stuff." The Doctor went over to the console and flipped a switch, starting up the engines as Jack obeyed the brunette girl. He looked at Jack. "Welcome to the TARDIS."

"Much bigger on the inside."

"You'd better be." The Doctor glared at him, but Astrid giggled and he had to smile at the girl.

Rose moved over to Jack and held out a hand. "I think what the Doctor's TRYINGto say is... you may cut in." They both grinned and he took her hand easily. They looked like they were about to start dancing when the Doctor interrupted them.

"Rose! I've just remembered!"

She looked over. "What?"

'In The Mood' blared out of the speakers - wherever they were. Lights flash all around the room, and the Doctor moved towards Star in time to the music, clicking his fingers. He remembered her comment about swing-dancing. "I can dance!" She gave him a huge grin and hopped off the seat.

Astrid took his hand and laughed gaily as he began to spin her around the TARDIS console room, just as she had practiced for hours when she was younger. It was fun, not sexy. But as he spun her out and then pulled her sharply in, they stopped, even with the music still going, and the world disappeared around her again. She stared up into his blue eyes, leaned forward, and their lips met in the blue-green glow of the Time Rotor.

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><p><em>Two more episodes until the end of 'Sister Star' and the beginning of 'Star Fall'. What do you guys think? Astrid lives off of reviews!<em>


	12. Bad Wolf

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 12: Bad Wolf**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** Beta is on vacation. All mistakes are mine.

_Astrid's thoughts_

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><p>Astrid knew she was lying down on what she thought was a floor. It was hard and a bit cold like a floor, and while her imagination was a little slow, her best hope at the moment was a floor. She really hoped it wasn't some examination table or a jail cell. <em>Well, might as well find out how bad it is.<em> She opened up her blue eyes and found that she was indeed on a floor; this one was brightly colored even as it was black. There were colored lights coming up from underneath.

She was lying on her side at the moment, laying on her left arm in a slight fetal position, the same way she fell asleep every night—_except usually I have a pillow between my head and my arm_. Astrid slowly got to an upright position. She looked around and realized she was on a stage. Blue lights were everywhere, almost like a Broadway production of 'Chicago' but in blue.

A redhead came over to her and helped her up with a smile. "Hello, I'm Kira." Her accent was British, like all of them, and she wore a simple white t-shirt and khaki slacks. She was quite pretty and her voice was a nice soft soprano. "Up you get." She helped pull Astrid to her feet and kept a hold of her when she tried to tip over. "It's alright, it's the transmat beam. Makes your head all fuzzy for a while. It'll wear off before you have to sing."

Astrid's eyes shot up. _I may not remember how in the hell I got here, but I sure as hell know that I would never sign up to sing anything!_ When she had been six, before her adoption that changed her life so completely, she had a big sister who played the radio every morning getting ready to go to school. One day, Astrid had sung along. Within a minute or two, her big sister, the one she looked up to so much, had barged in with such a look of hatred she backed up. Her sister had glared and said, 'You sound terrible. Don't sing again!' And she didn't. Not until high school, when she had been forced to enter choir as an extra-curricular. She had claimed sickness for every single one of the choir's performances. Even today, at 22 years old, she never sang in front of audiences. She barely sang in front of her parents, mostly she sang in her car when she was alone.

Kira was talking again as she helped move Astrid toward a back-stage area. "So, what's your name?"

"Astrid. Where am I? What happened?"

Kira was very kind, her green eyes understood. "You were selected to sing in 'Stars in their Eyes'. It's alright; if you couldn't sing at all you wouldn't be chosen. After 'Stars in their Eyes' 207 when most were tone-deaf, they've been making a more careful selection. And don't think about not competing because after the 413 series, they've got guards with disintegrator beams everywhere. Just play and you'll live."

Astrid was not feeling so well, and she tended to get cranky when that happened. "What the heck is 'Stars in their Eyes'?"

Kira was surprised and was very quick to explain. Apparently it was a talent show. The contestant would pick a famous artist to copy, dress up like them, and then sing a song that they performed. The one who sounded the most alike to the artist they picked won.

Astrid saw the hole in the story. "What happens to the losers?"

The red head went a little ashen and her voice was shaky, but she did answer. "They get blinded."

_I'm screwed._

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><p>Astrid did start to remember things. <em>I was on the TARDIS… cooking dinner… and then there was light coming through the walls… transmat beam, Kira said… why does that sound so familiar? <em>A lady came over and Astrid realized she was standing on the stage. She swallowed harshly in fear. The lady was a human, so that was good, and she asked "Do you know who you want to be yet?"

Astrid whimpered. "I… I… I don't usually sing in front of audiences." The lady jerked up in surprise. "But if I have to…" the lady nodded urgently. "…then can I do…" she tried to think of a singer that she could copy that was _female_. Most of her favorite songs were done by men, and the few that weren't, she couldn't copy them very well. "…umm…Tanya Tucker?"

The lady's eyes got confused. "Who?"

Astrid groaned and held her head in her hands in despair. "What about Jamie O'Neal?"

The woman shook her head again and Astrid began to throw out names of artists she actually knew. God knew what year it was; SOMEONE had to survive to whenever she was! "Carrie Underwood? Kelli Pickler? Taylor Swift?" Astrid threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know…Victoria Justice!"

Recognition bloomed in the woman's eyes. "That one we do have. Which song, lovey?"

"The first one. Only one I know… 'Make it Shine'. And the original recording please, the one that goes slow to begin and then speeds up." _Please, Doctor. Find me fast. Don't make me sing. Please, don't make me sing._

The woman nodded her head and smiled gently at her. The woman was just doing her job, and it was the only one she could get that didn't have a disintegrator beam in the show on her meager salary that could still support her children. "You have to talk to the host-droid first, wave at the cameras before descending those stairs" she pointed to the big swirly opening behind where they were standing, "it'll be closed at first, but it'll open on camera and then you can step through. Then go directly to wig and makeup. They'll have a picture to work off of to make you look like Victoria Justice. Alright? Now, don't be scared. This show doesn't disintegrate you like most of the others. You can still live blind." The woman gave Astrid a compassionate smile, but at that last sentence, the pit in her stomach tightened and Astrid had to run off stage so that she could throw up.

* * *

><p>Astrid was standing in front of the cameras, live on air with a droid. The droid was probably designed to resemble the person who had originally hosted the show, but since Astrid was pretty sure she had never SEEN the show, she had no idea who they were supposed to be. All she knew was the 'classic' line she had to say right before stepping through the swirly door.<p>

The droid spoke and it had a very odd electronic quality to its voice. "Tell me about yourself."

Astrid swallowed, glanced at the cameras before focusing on the droid. _Don't think about the cameras. Don't think about the cameras. Don't think about the cameras. _"Ummm… I've been traveling around with my friends Rose and Jack. I got a boyfriend: the Doctor."

"So, come on. Give us your clues."

"The singer was part of the Nickelodeon show 'Victorious' for seven consecutive seasons. She made over 54 albums and won 23 awards for Best Voice in the 24th century." Astrid's voice got stronger as she focused on the facts she had to memorize.

"Come on, tell us. Who are you going to be tonight?"

Astrid tightened her eyes up and said, "Tonight, Catdroid I'm going to be Victoria Justice." Now she had to walk to the swirly doors, which opened as she approached. She turned back to wave for the camera, and walked down into what they called the Wig Box.

As soon as she had cleared the doorway, the doors closed again and she was bombarded on all sides by beauticians, costume designers, and make-up artists. They had all been given a picture of what she should look like at the end and had been working to make sure they did their job. In about five minutes, she was standing in a silvery shiny dress that only came to mid-thigh. Her hair was a bit longer, but the color was the same. It had been styled to flow in waves down her shoulders—something she had never been able to do before, she had seen the industrial hair spray they had to use. She had some makeup on, which was driving her mad, and high heels. _I'm going to fall on my face, I know it!_ She hadn't let them take her earring-filters. She had actually threatened the costume person with bodily harm if they even touched them.

Now it was time to come back onstage. She whimpered. _Doctor, where are you?_

The non-existent audience applauded as she came out looking like Victoria Justice. She remembered the YouTube video of the pilot episode of 'Victorious' and Victoria's performance of 'Make it Shine' very well…but actually performing it HERSELF would be a lot harder.

She swallowed hard as the music began to play, slow at first just as she had requested. She swallowed hard and began to sing. The microphone was on her head and throat. _No luck that the Doctor would come in now, is there? I HATE THIS! _"Here I am" She paused in her singing, her voice about to break and she saw in front of her, beyond the cameras, a star begin to appear. _So that's how they are going to blind me. SHIT! _"…once again / feeling lost but now and then / I breathe it in to let it go" Her voice began to get stronger as she felt the music beneath her feet. She closed her eyes so that she could focus on hearing the actual Victoria Justice in her head, and dismiss the cameras. "And you don't know where you are now / what it will come to if only somebody could hear / when you figure out how you're lost in the moment you disappeaaar / You don't have to be afraid to put your dream in action / You're never going to fade, you'll be the main attraction / Now it's fair to say, just remember me when it turns out right / 'cause you know if you live in your imagination / Tomorrow you'll be everybody's fascination / In my victory, just remember me / When I make it shine!"

Suddenly, the door off stage burst open, stopping everything in its place. Astrid suddenly got a huge grin, her entire face lit up in happiness. "Doctor!" She ran off set in mid-song with absolute joy. But as she ran toward him and him toward her, a security guard came through with guns. Before she could even reach him, a disintegrator beam hit her in the stomach and her world dissolved into blackness.

* * *

><p>Astrid began to move. <em>This is becoming a pattern. I don't like it.<em> The orangey room done in an inordinate amount of hexagons—_which looks so much better when Lexi does it_—she got to her feet and only had one other occupant, Rose, unconscious on the floor not two feet from her. With a cry of joy, she ran to her sister and hugged her tightly. "Rose! Come on, Rose. Wake up!" After only a couple of seconds shaking her shoulders, the blond stirred.

Rose opened her eyes and focused on something that Astrid had missed. A Dalek, coming right at them. Astrid whimpered again and moved them back, hands clasped tightly. Rose couldn't believe what she saw. "No. It can't be…"

When they reached a wall, they tried to move sideways but a toilet plunger that very was threatening stopped them on the left. They both froze.

* * *

><p>They were sitting on the floor, waiting. Several Daleks had joined the first. There were about six in the room now. Four were operating a screen and controls while two were on them, guarding them. They had been recognized as time travelers easily and the guard had doubled.<p>

One Dalek came through from a hallway to the right. "Alert. Alert. We are detected!"

Every one of them had the exact same voice, same tone, and still they weren't as scary as the Master. _Does that mean I have an irrational fear, or that after being kidnapped at laser screwdriver point and having to start over with no support except a dog and a bag that they just aren't as scary? Probably the first one._ "It is the Doctor! He had located us. Open communications channel."

Astrid kept her arm tightly around Rose, just as Rose had an arm around her. Sisters until death.

One Dalek shouted at them. "The females will stand. Stand!"

They both got to their feet even as a holographic screen image appeared in mid-air with the Doctor and Jack. There were other people there, but Astrid only had eyes for her boyfriend. _He's safe! _

The Dalek standing beside them on their left spoke first. "I will talk to the Doctor."

The Doctor smiled in derision at the lot of them. "Oh, will you? That's nice. Hello!" He waved at them mockingly and his smile vanished almost instantly afterward.

"The Dalek Stratagem nears completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene."

"Oh really? Why's that then?" The Doctor's voice was almost curious, but Astrid could tell that he was forcing himself not to be angry, to focus on the facts. He needed information before launching a rescue attempt.

"We have your associates. You will obey or they will be exterminated."

"No." Astrid smiled at him encouragingly, though she knew her eyes were filled with fear. She tightened her grip on Rose and the blond shook in terror.

As one, Jack and all of the other people on the screen jerked their heads to look at the Doctor in shock. Rose's mouth dropped open.

The same Dalek didn't understand either, just like the rest of them. "Explain yourself."

His answer was firm, hard and unyielding. "I said 'no'."

"What is the meaning of this negative?" The Dalek almost sounded hysterical.

"It means 'no'." The Doctor didn't retract his statement.

"But they will be destroyed!"

Now that provoked a reaction. A bad one. _Well, bad if you are a Dalek. Good if you're us._ The Doctor shot up out of his chair and said with passion. "No! 'Cause this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna rescue them." Astrid listened, the pride evident in her eyes and body language. She wanted to hug him. The others glanced at him in awe. He was on a roll, his tone changed to one of fiery passion. "I'm gonna save Astrid and Rose Tyler from the middle of the Dalek Fleet. And then I'm gonna save the Earth. And then, just to finish off, I'm gonna wipe every STINKING Dalek out of the sky!"

The Dalek actually sounded a little bit scared. "But you have no weapons! No defenses! No plan!"

The Doctor ginned. "Yeah. And doesn't that scare you to death?" His eyes focused on the two girls. "Star?"

Astrid smiled at him and eagerly said, "Yes, Doctor?"

"I'm coming to get you." He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the screen and it shut down.

The Daleks all went a little nuts. They were now ignoring the two girls, who scrambled to get out of the way. "The Doctor is initiating hostile action!"

"The Stratagem must advance. Begin the invasion of Earth!"

They spun around wildly. Rose gasped but they took no notice of her, and she stepped out of their way.

"The Doctor will be exterminated!"

"Exterminate!"

The entire ship was filled with thousands of Daleks crying 'exterminate!' as one. Rose looked around in terror at the huge, insane army. Astrid squeezed her hand in reassurance that she didn't feel.

[to be continued…]

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><p><em>Well, what do you think? I wanted to do a different game show…which actually caused me to research British game shows. Only one more chapter to go. Reviews are love!<em>


	13. The Parting of the Ways

**Sister Star**

**Chapter 13: Parting of the Ways**

Almadynis

Disclaimer: I only own Astrid. *glomps* No takies!

**AN:** Beta is peaceloverhealer101. All mistakes are mine.

_Astrid's thoughts_

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><p>Rose and Astrid stood together by the far wall of the screen where the Doctor had appeared before, holding hands tightly together. The Daleks themselves were looking to be in a state of—at least—mild panic. One of them, the one that had spoken before, rounded and focused on Rose. "You know the Doctor. You understand him. You will predict his actions." It was a demand. <em>But they really don't know us. Morons.<em>

Rose was afraid. "I don't know!"

The Dalek glided towards her, his toilet bowl plunger pointed at her dangerously. Astrid slid Rose behind her protectively. The brunette's voice was filled with a strength she didn't feel. "And even if we did, we wouldn't tell you." _That transmat seriously screwed with my head, but it's fixed now and I DO remember what the Doctor will do…and the hell am I going to tell you!_

If a Dalek could be hysterical, this one would be. "Predict! Predict! Predict!" It glided so close that Astrid and Rose had to back up right against the wall to keep from touching the thing.

The second Dalek, the one that had talked to the Doctor before—_I think, they all look alike and they all sound pretty much alike_—turned his eyestalk in their direction as it stated, "TARDIS detected in flight."

The Dalek in front of them—_maybe Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum to tell them apart? Or…hmmm…Dumb and Dumber? How about Thing One and Thing Two? No, that is an insult to Dr. Seuss._—turned its head around to look away from them as it practically yelled, "Launch missiles! Exterminate!"

Rose heard this and was very angry, terrified for her adopted big brother and boyfriend. Her tone was desperate to save them. "You can't! The TARDIS hasn't got any defenses. You're gonna kill them."

This of course, caught the Dalek's attention and he turned back to threateningly say, "You have predicted correctly."

Rose trembled in her fear and the girls held each other for comfort. After about a minute of waiting for the results of the torpedoes—_intergalactic space killer Dalek exterminator torpedoes—_Rose looked at Astrid in askance, because she could hear the TARDIS materializing. Astrid gave a small grin and nodded. She had heard it too. The Daleks were the next to notice and were looking all around, trying to spot where the ship would appear. A breeze began to ruffle their hair. Astrid held Rose tighter to her chest. They started to see a faint outline of the TARDIS around them slowly appear, encapsulating both of them and one of the Daleks—_Dumber._

The Doctor was slowly coming into more and more focus, as was the outside of the TARDIS, the console, and Jack. As soon as the Doctor was almost completely solid, he shouted "Star, Rose, get down!" Astrid was expecting it, and even as the Dalek's eyestalk was swiveling around to face the Doctor, she tugged the blond to the floor and practically fell on top of her.

Dumber yelled out in hysteria, "Exterminate!" and fired at Jack—_which is his first mistake, since the Doctor is almost never armed and Jack will never be unarmed_—who was holding a very very large black gun that Astrid remembered used to be a Defabricator. Jack deflected to exterminator ray to the side—_I'm sorry Lexi!_—and fired his gun at the Dalek. The Dalek only had enough time to scream before it exploded in a shower of sparks and flying metal pieces.

Astrid and Rose winced at the explosion, and Astrid coughed a couple times from the smoke billowing out of the metal husk before the two girls got to their feet. Rose was amazed. "You did it." After all of the noise of the landing, the Dalek, and then the 'boom'… it was really quiet in the TARDIS. No one said a word as Rose walked over to Jack, who was occupied in putting down the giant gun, and hugged him tightly. "Feels like I haven't seen you in years."

Astrid didn't have to go to the Doctor, he came over to her and wrapped his arms around her. She held him just as firmly, burrowing her head into the crook of his neck. He whispered into her ear, "I told you I'd come and get you."

They pulled away slightly, but Astrid only took a breath before going back to kiss him soundly. After a month of kissing, she was getting much better. The world dissolved around her as his lips moved across hers hungrily. This wasn't a kiss passion; this was a kiss of need. The need to affirm that they were both alive and alright. When they finally parted again, they were both breathless. Her voice was soft as she rested her head against his chest. "I never doubted it."

"I did! You all right?" He looked her over once to make sure no pieces were smoldering or bleeding.

"5 by 5. You?"

He chuckled at her phrase, knowing the reference to this one and knowing that if she was making quotations that she was fine. "Not bad. Been better." He moved to closely examine the still smoking remains of Dumber.

Jack came over with a big smile and opened his arms. Astrid grinned and gave him a sisterly hug from the side. "Welcome home!"

Astrid pulled away from him, still grinning. "You look in one piece."

"Oh, we were lucky. I was just a one-shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. Now it's just a piece of junk." What had started as a good welcome home turned into a sad and slightly irritated statement.

The Doctor was paying no attention to any of them as he took out his sonic screwdriver and began to use it to even more closely identify the remains. All of them bent to look at the Dalek creature inside. With the battle armor in huge pieces, it was easy to see the mutated creature inside. It had two eyes, unlike the last Dalek they had seen, and a squashed head with one side about an inch longer than the other and covered in goop. It made Astrid slightly sick looking at it, smelling the burnt flesh, knowing what exactly was sitting there.

Rose was curious. "You said they were extinct. How comes they're still alive?"

"One minute they're the greatest threat in the universe, the next minute they vanished out of time and space." Jack explained as best he could, but he didn't know the whole story.

The Doctor was still looking at the dead creature intently and he absently told them. "They went off to fight a bigger war—The Time War." He straightened, frowning at the remains.

Jack was surprised at the new information. "I thought that was just a legend."

The Doctor didn't change expressions, his tone so frank and resigned. "I was there. The war between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake. My people were destroyed, but they took the Daleks with them." He continued to stare at the smoking Dalek and continued quietly. "I almost thought it was worth it. Now it turns out they died for nothing."

Rose entered into the conversation, just as quiet as the Doctor. "There's thousands of them now. We could hardly stop ONE_. _What're we gonna do? Astrid?"

The Doctor looked at the female brunette who hadn't taken her eyes off the Dalek. Her blue eyes held such a sorrowful look in them, which he knew she knew what they were. Something he was missing. The brunette gave a deep breath, but then gagged slightly at the smell. She looked up at him and her eyes were so sad. "I can't help. This next bit is balanced on a knife edge. If even a small part comes out of place, everyone dies."

He nodded in understanding. Then suddenly he seemed to cheer up. "No good standing round here chin-wagging. Human race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have got the answers." He clapped his hands together once and his grin was playful. "Let's go and meet the neighbors." He headed down the TARDIS entrance ramp and Astrid shook her head.

"Sometimes, I think he gets off on being slightly crazy." He looked back, winked at her, and stepped out of the ship.

* * *

><p>As soon as the Doctor showed his head, the Daleks around the TARDIS all cried out 'Exterminate!' and fired their death rays straight at him. Astrid was second out of the TARDIS, followed by Jack and Rose. The brunette girl grinned hugely at the Daleks when they finally gave up trying to kill them. The Extrapolator's force field simply absorbed all of the energy anyway. It did absolutely no good. The Daleks gave up after only three shots.<p>

The Doctor raised his hands to either side and looked at them all mockingly. "Is that it? Useless." His voice took on a French accent. "Nul points!" He started back to the TARDIS and spoke to Jack and Rose, who were still in the doorway. "It's all right, come on out. That force field can hold back anything." He leaned against the TARDIS on the right. Astrid, leaning against the TARDIS on the left, slapped her hand up to cover Jack's mouth. His startled blue eyes quickly shot to hers where she was giving him a warning look. The Doctor's eyebrows rose at her actions, but knew there had to be a good reason for it.

He turned his attention back to the Daleks surrounding the TARDIS. He stepped forward a few feet, talking as he walked. "You know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek homeworld?" He reached as far as he wanted to go and stopped, staring at the group of three in front of him with a serious expression to match his tone. "The Oncoming Storm." He paused slightly before continuing, building up suspense and fear. His volume soft, almost a whisper. "You might have removed all your emotions, but I reckon right down deep in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear." It was amazing how he grabbed their attention. The Daleks were hanging on his every word, almost shaking with nervousness. "Doesn't it just BURN when you face me?" His voice got louder, stronger. "So tell me, how did you survive the Time War?"

A new voice entered the monologue. It was a Dalek voice, but so much stronger, deeper, more powerful. Even with her earring-filters in, Astrid shivered at that voice. "They survived through me."

The Doctor hadn't noticed the owner of the voice so far, and turned in surprise at the answer from a different corner. His mouth dropped open as he took a few steps toward the huge Dalek that became illuminated.

It stood on three massive dalekanium legs, a head like every other Dalek on top, but much bigger than any other Dalek. But what was most unusual about this Dalek, was that hanging down from the head at the center of the tri-pod, and was what looked like a glass container. It was filled with liquid and blue light illuminated the Dalek body within. This Dalek looked like the one in Nevada, not like the others here.

The Doctor's voice was filled with blank fascination. _Not that it is impressive; he's seen it…but that it survived. I'm so sorry, Doctor._ "Rose. Captain. This is the Emperor of the Daleks."

"You destroyed us, Doctor. The Dalek race died in your inferno." _For a creature with no emotions, this one sure does sound angry…_ "But my ship survived, falling through time, crippled but alive." _…and now smug._

The Doctor understood. "I get it-"

Immediately, all around from the Daleks surrounding them, the group of humans and humanoid heard 'Do not interrupt!' yelled out at such volume that Astrid was extremely glad for her earrings. Even Rose and Jack flinched at the volume and tone.

The Doctor now had a look of annoyance. His voice was actually now mildly amused, but it was still strong, unwavering. "I think you're forgetting something. I'm the Doctor and if there's one thing I can do, its talk. I've got five billion languages and you haven't got one way of stopping me. So if anyone's gonna shut up," he suddenly turned around, his face a mask of fury and half-charged the group of Daleks that had shouted. "IT'S YOU!" The Daleks were scared enough—_even if they don't admit it—_that they rolled backward from the Doctor. When he sees this reaction, the Gallifreyan is in a much better mood. He turns back to the Emperor with a grin. "Okey doke. So, where were we?"

"We waited here in the dark space, damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth, harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us. The bodies were filleted, pulped, sifted." Even as the Emperor spoke, Astrid looked at Rose. Rose's face was as if she had swallowed a lemon. "The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured." Jack took a deep breath, he understood what was being said, and his face said it all.

The Doctor's face was blank, but there was a look in his eyes, a set to his lips. _He's angry. So, so angry._ "So you created an army of Daleks out of the dead."

Rose's voice was calm, but with such a tone of incredulity. She looked from Jack to the Doctor and back again, didn't want to believe. "That makes them half human."

Now the Emperor Dalek rose in terrible anger. "Those words are blasphemy!"

From around them, making them all turn to watch in amazement—the Doctor especially—the Daleks called out in anger as well, backing up their leader. "Do not blaspheme!"

The Emperor went on, speaking in pride. "Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek."

But the Doctor's face was so confused. His eyes were looking around at all the Dalek's, disturbed by this new piece of information. He turned to again face the Emperor. "Since when did the Daleks have a concept of blasphemy?"

"I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!" _Even with all this going on, the only thing I hear when he said that was the old joke about the scientists and God. The scientists found a way to create man out of dirt, like Adam and Eve and have a contest on who can make the best person. God goes first and the woman is perfect in every way. But when the scientists go to take their turn God looks at them and says 'Get your own dirt!'. _

From all around, the Daleks that surrounded them all said in tandem, "Worship him! Worship him! Worship him!"

The Doctor's face hasn't changed expression, he has figured it out. He faces the Daleks still yelling and Rose, Jack, and Astrid. "They're insane. Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to drive anyone mad." His tone and voice are realizing the depth of the problem. Astrid nodded at his conclusions. "But it's worse than that." He stared intently at the Daleks, walking towards them with such pity in his eyes. "Driven mad by your own flesh. The stink of humanity." His smile was only a very small one, full of sadness, as he shook his head. "You hate your own existence." His voice got harder. "And that makes them more deadly than ever." He turned to face the Emperor one last time. "We're going."

The Emperor Dalek practically screamed at them, "You may NOT leave my presence!"

But it was too late, all of them were either in the TARDIS or almost there. The Daleks yell at them to stay, but even as they fire their exterminator rays at them, they are fended off by the Extrapolator shielding.

Astrid watched the Doctor, pity and sadness in her eyes. He leaned against the TARDIS, his head on the door, his shoulders slumped. His whole body was in direct contrast to his attitude just moments before. He didn't know what to do, he felt so helpless as the Dalek cries of 'exterminate!' could still be heard through the door.

She went up to him and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder in as much comfort as she could give. _I hope that this goes as planned, Doctor. But even if it does, the Daleks are always going to come back…even if they are all destroyed today, there is still that Void Ship out there. I am sorry. I am so so sorry. _It was all she could do right now.

* * *

><p>The Doctor was the first out of the TARDIS when they arrived at one end of Floor 500. He immediately started to give out orders as he walked quickly to the control panel. "Turn everything up! All transmitters, full power, wide open, now! Do it!" Rose, Jack and Astrid were already out of the ship and following on his heels.<p>

Even one of the male technicians did as he was told; he asked, "What does this do?"

"Stops the Daleks from transmatting on board. How did you get on? Did you contact Earth?"

The programmer shrugged helplessly. "We tried to warn them, but all they did was suspend our license 'cause we stopped the programs."

The Doctor had that little frown right between his eyes. "And the planet's just sitting there. Defenseless." He looked around and noticed a blond girl, her hair done up in a pair of ponytails. "Lynda, what are you still doing on board?" His head went back to the male programmer, this time with an angry tone. "I told you to evacuate everyone!"

"She wouldn't go."

"I didn't wanna leave ya." Her voice was quiet, even as she gave him a soft smile. Astrid looked at her sadly, knowing how she would die. Rose eyed the woman up and down, not liking the sudden competition for her friend.

The programmer beside the male one, this one a female, said in irritation. "There weren't enough shuttles anyway, or I wouldn't be here. We've got about a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero."

The male technician was staring at his screen in silent fear. "Oh, my God. The Fleet is moving. They're on their way!" The Doctor moved closer for a better look.

The Doctor had seen them coming and bolted into action. He was now ripping out panels and handfuls, armfuls, of wires from the backs of the desks and into the corridor they had recently walked down, the TARDIS at one end providing illumination. Astrid was right beside him, working on the other side, ripping out wires and panels. Everyone else watched him, not having any idea what he was thinking. He was talking so fast as he tried to explain. "Dalek plan, big mistake, 'cause what've they left me with? Anyone? Anyone? Come on, it's obvious! A great big transmitter. This station! If I can change the signal, fold it back, sequence it? Anyone?"

Astrid caught Jack's face. He had no idea what was going on, but then it all clicked in his head and the expression turned into one of astonishment. "You've gotta be kidding."

The Doctor gave him a huge grin as a reward. "Give the man a medal!"

Jack still couldn't believe it. "A Delta Wave?"

The Doctor was so excited by his idea, he was grinning from ear to ear. "A Delta Wave!" Astrid giggled at his antics.

Rose didn't have the background to understand. "What's a Delta Wave?"

Jack explained as best he could to the 21st century girl. "A wave of Van Cassadyne energy. It fries your brain. Stand in the way of a Delta Wave and your head gets barbecued."

Even as Jack was saying all this, the Doctor never slowed down his dismantling of the desks. He pointed Astrid to pull out specific wires in the bundles, then looked back at Jack and Rose. "And this place can transmit a MASSIVE wave. Wipe out the Daleks!"

Rose opened her mouth to say something but Lynda, smiling just as much as he was, shouted out to him. "Well get started and do it then!"

Rose glared at the girl slightly, irritated at being interrupted. Astrid had been watching and she giggled softly. Rose looked up at her friend and smiled in turn. Somehow, she no longer felt threatened by the pig-tail girl. He was her brother, but Astrid's boyfriend, and if the brunette wasn't threatened, then she shouldn't be either.

The Doctor answered Lynda's unasked question, oblivious to the interplay between the girls. "Trouble it, wave this size, building this big, brain as clever as mine, should take about—ooh—three days? How long till the Fleet arrive?"

The male technician checked the computer screen behind him. "Twenty two minutes."

The Doctor frantically restarted to pull out cables from underneath one desk, stared at the end of the bundle for a split second, looked up at all the people staring at him, and gave them all a beautiful beam of a smile. Astrid laughed.

* * *

><p>Astrid was working diligently with the Doctor as Jack and Rose spoke with the others out of her hearing range since she had the filters in. She decided that now would be a good time to privately speak to her Doctor. "This is it, Doctor. This is the end of season one of Doctor Who and the event I'm supposed to be a part of will happen within thirty minutes." Her crystal blue eyes looking into his own ice blue depths. "I want you to keep your promise." She could see that he didn't immediately remember. "If I can't protect Rose…" Now she could see that he remembered, and that he would rather not. "…it falls to you. Alright?"<p>

He nodded firmly, understanding in his eyes. He knew that she didn't expect to live out the next half hour. She fully expected to die. The hell he was going to let her. He called out to the group of people at the other end of the room. "Rose, you can help me and Astrid. I need all these wires stripping bare." Rose immediately joined the two with a hesitant smile. Astrid handed her a pair of wire-cutters and they both got to work.

Lynda came over to the Doctor, ignoring the two girls. "I-I just wanna say…thanks, I suppose. And I'll do my best."

He smiled at her gently. "Me too."

They awkwardly tried to decide on the best way of saying goodbye. At one point the Doctor looked as though he's going to kiss her forehead, but they settled for a handshake. They laughed embarrassedly, while Rose looked on with a semi-amused smile, Astrid beside her trying hard not to laugh. Lynda headed off, glancing back at the Doctor who watched her go.

Jack approached them and stood before them, ready to say his goodbyes. He tried to keep his tone light a friendly, "It's been fun." The Doctor grinned at him. Then Jack's voice gained a more serious edge. "But I guess this is goodbye." Rose dropped the wires she was holding and threw her arms around him and kissed him soundly. He gazed deeply into her eyes and wiped away the tear that threatened as he held her face in his two hands. He had never been more sincere when he said, "Rose…you are worth fighting for."

Jack turned to the Doctor and grinned at him animatedly. "Wish I'd never met you, Doctor." He reached out to cup the other man's face in his hands like he had done Rose. "I was much better off as a coward." Then he kissed the Doctor, but it was a friendly kiss. A goodbye kiss. It had nowhere near the passion he had kissed Rose with.

Now it was Astrid's turn. She smiled at him and threw her arms around him in a glomp hug, the kind that made him wince slightly at the tightness, but he wouldn't say anything about it. Not this one. He was much taller than her and had to curve his neck down. "Little Star, you are the best little sister I could have hoped for and never wanted." Astrid gave a startled bark of laughter and nodded in assent. He kissed her as well, cupping her face like Rose and the Doctor, but this kiss was on her forehead. A last brotherly gesture of love.

A whisper came to his ears, soft enough that no one else could hear it. "If all goes well, I'll find you in Cardiff." His look went from startled to blank in a nanosecond. He understood that this was her future knowledge, and that she was trying to give him hope. He faced the exit, put a hand on each of the Doctor and Rose's shoulders, then pointed forward in a gun-like gesture toward the exit. "See you in hell." And then he ran off, the three of them watching him leave. Rose had tears in her eyes, the Doctor more stoic than normal.

Rose looked at the Doctor nervously, hope in her eyes. "He's gonna be all right." The Doctor didn't answer, and Astrid went back to work on the wires. Rose needed an answer, slightly desperate. "Isn't he?"

Silence was her only answer.

* * *

><p>Now that Jack was organizing the people below to mount a defense, Rose, Astrid and the Doctor were the only people left on Floor 500. All of them were busily working on the wires, splicing together and stripping bundles as fast as they could. By this time, the middle row of desks were covered with wires, as was the floor. The three of them were sitting on the floor in a companionable silence as they worked.<p>

Rose was the first to break it. "Suppose…" her voice drifted off.

The Doctor didn't look up as he capped the end of a bundle of wires, asking after a moment. "What?"

"Nothing."

"You said 'suppose'."

Rose shook her head slightly. "No, I was just thinking. I mean, obviously you can't, but you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"

Astrid answered absently. "The Dalek's have been hiding for hundreds of years, Rose. One week wouldn't make any difference."

The Doctor didn't look up from his work either as he added onto her thought. "Also, as soon as the TARDIS lands, in that second, I become part of events. Stuck in the timeline."

Rose nodded as if she expected such an answer from him. Astrid peaked up at her and gave a wink and a small smile. "Yeah, thought it'd be something like that." She kept on working.

The Doctor let the silence carry for a few more seconds. "There's another thing the TARDIS could do. It could take us away." Rose looked up at him briefly, smiling softly. "We could leave. Let history take its course. We got to Marbella in 1989."

Rose, who after a year of travelling with him had gotten to know the Doctor really well, knew that this was an empty question. She smiled up at him. "Yeah, but you'd never do that."

He had that small frown between his eyes again when he looked up to meet her gaze. "No, but you could ask." She didn't answer. She didn't have to. Astrid picked her friends well, with an extremely high rate of discharge. Astrid had a grand total of three true friends: Rose, the Doctor, and Julian. If she was back home, that would expand to five to include her parents. By her definition, a true friend never left you to fight on your own, you could trust them to watch your back, and would be willing to drop everything if you needed them. Very few people could live up to those expectations. Rose was one of them. The Doctor knew this too. His voice was full of affection and pride for her, "Never even occurred to you, did it?"

Rose smiled up at him at the small praise and teased him. "Well, I'm just too good." Astrid laughed softly, nodding in agreement. His face was full of brotherly affection and tenderness as he looked at her.

The computer begins to whir and buzz. He looked over at it, alert. "The Delta Wave's started building. How long does it need?" Rose and the Doctor got to their feet and ran over to the computers, Astrid staying behind to continue working on the wires, knowing the results, but she can hear Rose.

"Is that bad?" There was no reply, and Astrid could see that the Doctor's head was sinking to his knees. "Okay, it's bad. How bad is it?"

The Doctor suddenly perked up and leapt to his feet, his face lit up in a bright smile, his tone gleeful to the point of laughter and delight. "Rose Tyler, you're a GENIUS!" Rose smiled at him even as he grabbed her head and put a great big kiss on her forehead. "We can do it! If I use the TARDIS to cross my own timeline… Yes!" He ran down between the corridor of desks, Rose close behind. As he passed the brunette, he grabbed her arm and physically dragged her with him. Her 125 pounds versus his 180, when he had momentum and inertia on his side was a losing battle. Even though she knew what he had in mind, and her eyes widened in shock and realization, by the time she was ready to fight him to stay with him, they were already in the TARDIS. Discreetly as he could, as soon as they were inside and the doors closed, he turned to Astrid and could see the recognition in her eyes; she knew what he would do and was against it. He had planned for this already though. Ever since Jack had joined them, and Astrid had given her pronouncement that she didn't expect to live through the first season she had watched, he had been planning this. She knew what he would normally do without her around, so he had to make special provisions just for her. Things that she wouldn't know, couldn't anticipate. The solution had come to him easily. A pair of handcuffs from the 21st century—for they weren't meant to hold her for long—went around the wrist of her dominant hand, her right, and the other around the railing close to the ramp and console of the TARDIS.

Astrid's eyes went wide at these unforeseen circumstances. She opened her mouth to yell at him, but he wasn't listening. It had happened so fast, she had been so slow to react, that he had already directed Rose to hold down a lever and was talking loudly as if in excitement, but it was really to keep anything Astrid might say from Rose overhearing. Astrid's blue eyes begged him not to do this. But he kept right on going, talking a mile a minute. "…and I'm more than clever, I'm BRILLIANT, I might just save the world. Or rip it apart."

Rose, obediently held down the indicated lever. "I'd go for the first one."

The Doctor gave a quick look at the other brunette to see that she was silently crying, watching him mutely. She wasn't even trying to talk anymore; she had sunk to the floor in resignation, her wrist hanging by the cuff by her ear. She just watched him, drinking in the sight of him. He turned back to Rose. "Me too. Now, I've just got to go and power up the Game Station. Hold on!" He ran down the ramp, running his fingers over Astrid's face as he passed for one last touch, and was out the door in just a second or two.

Astrid waited until the door shut, knowing it was already locked. Tears rolled down her cheeks silently as she sobbed. Rose, from her position at the control console, couldn't see Astrid at all since the brunette had sunk to the floor, she doesn't understand what had happened.

The engines begin to groan and shift as the Time Rotor rose and fell steadily. Rose called out, yelling for him, "Doctor, what are you doing? Can I take my hand off? It's moving." Making a quick decision when there was no answer, she ran down the ramp, right past Astrid and threw herself at the doors, but couldn't get them to open. She started to panic. "Doctor, let me out!" Astrid sobbed harder, finally starting to make noise in her grief, as the TARDIS began to fly. Rose looked back to see her friend handcuffed to the railing of the console, sitting awkwardly on the floor, crying desperately. Rose hammered on the doors, her voice accusing. "Doctor, what've you done?" Rose was still pounding frantically on the door when a hologram of the Doctor appeared standing just a few feet from where Astrid was slumped to the floor. Rose spun around as it started to speak.

"This is Emergency Program One. Rose, now listen, this is important. If this message is activated, then it can only mean one thing." Rose stared, wide-eyed at the blue hologram. "We must be in danger. And I mean fatal. I'm dead or about to die any second with no chance of escape." Rose cried out in denial.

Astrid had gotten to her feet shakily, staring at the hologram. He would be the last image of her Doctor she got to see if Bad Wolf wasn't created. She wanted to remember it.

The hologram was oblivious to the reactions of the two girls. "And that's okay. Hope it's a good death." Rose came to the top of the ramp, staring at him directly in the face while Astrid had to stare from the side. "But I promised to look after you, and that's what I'm doing. The TARDIS is taking you home."

Rose's voice is flat as she runs up the remaining ramp. "I won't let you."

The Doctor's hologram doesn't notice, still staring straight ahead. "And I bet you're fussing and moaning now. Typical! But hold on and listen a bit more. The TARDIS can never return for me. Emergency Program One means I'm facing an enemy that should never get their hands on this machine. So this is what you should do, let the TARDIS die." Astrid's head hung down for a split second, acknowledging to herself she would never let that happen in her lifetime, before looking back up at the hologram. "Just let this old box gather dust. No one can open it; no one will even notice it. Let it become a strange little thing standing on a street corner. And over the years, the world will move on and the box will be buried. And if you want to remember me, then you can do one thing. That's all. One thing." His face turned to face the two girls, one crying silently again, the other shocked into silence. His expression was full of affection, as if he could really see the blond girl. His voice seemed more alive, like he was right there in the room with them. "Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life."

His face drifted down to where Astrid was on the floor again, defeated. "I choose you, Star. You are the bravest human I have ever met. Your soul shines with the light of the sun. You are going to do fantastic things. Do that for me, my Star." His hand reached down and seemed to caress her cheek. She leaned into the stroke, closing her eyes as her imagination filled in the warmth and feel of his skin. Then the hologram flickered, and faded altogether.

Astrid collapsed into sobs, her shoulders shaking in defeat and betrayal, as Rose screamed in denial. The TARDIS finally stopped making the flight noise; the Time Rotor stopped moving up and down. Rose abandoned the console and her attempts at flying, to rush to the doors and fling them open. But on the other side is the 21st century and the Powell Estate.

* * *

><p>The brunette finally ran out of tears waiting for someone with handcuff keys. She hadn't spoken since before she had been practically kidnapped. This time it had been by a man she loved dearly—she could admit it to herself now—and her grief over his betrayal was overshadowed by her grief for him. It threw into relief how devastating everything and everyone would be if Bad Wolf didn't happen like it was supposed to. With that thought the one foremost in her mind, she steeled her heart, and focused on getting Rose on the right path.<p>

Astrid, now so very very calm that many who knew her well would be very very scared, calmly gave an intense look at the handcuffs. "If you don't open, I'll melt you down for plumbing parts." And, surprisingly, the seemingly 21st century handcuffs popped open immediately. She nodded sharply, got to her feet, and went to find Rose.

* * *

><p>Astrid found Rose sitting in the front window of a chip shop, watching out the window into the distance. She walked in easily and sat down by Rose, across from Jackie and Mickey across from Rose. Jackie grinned at her semi-daughter easily, but didn't even get up to hug her, especially with the look in the brunette's eyes. They were dead, cold.<p>

Jackie went on and spoke to her true daughter, pleading with the blond. She knew how much Astrid protected Rose, and knew this might draw both girls out of whatever mood they were in. "Oh, Rose, have something to eat."

Rose didn't stop looking out the window. Astrid place her hand on Rose's shoulder in as much comfort as she could give. Rose barely noticed. "Two hundred thousand years in the future he's dying and there's NOTHING I can do."

Jackie didn't understand. "Well, like you said, two hundred thousand years, its way off."

Astrid shook her head and Rose finally looked at her mother, emphatic. "But it's not, it's now. That fight is happening right now. And he's fighting for us! For the whole planet! And I'm just sitting here eating chips!" She was angry and upset, but it was a hot anger while Astrid's was cold. It a lot of ways, the two girls were similar, but in this they were opposite.

"Listen to me." Jackie was insistent enough to turn Rose's head toward her. "God knows I've hated that man, but right now I love him and do you know why? 'Cause he did the right thing. He sent both of you back to me." Jackie went back to her fries as if that was it, the matter was closed, the conversation over.

Rose had other ideas. Her voice was so desperate, trying to get her mother to understand. "But what do I do every day, Mum? What do I do? Get up, catch the bus, go to work, come back home, eat chips and go to bed, is that it?

Mickey's tone was as cold as ice. "It's what the rest of us do."

"But I can't!"

"Why, 'cause you're better than us?"

Astrid's hand striking the surface of the table shocked them all with the abruptness and the volume. Her blue eyes were icy depths of anger. "Mickey, you know that is not what she meant. Stop being mean because you can. I just lost the man I love more than life itself, so don't you DARE do this."

Rose nodded and continued quietly. "But it was... It was a betterlife. And I - I don't mean all the travelling and... Seeing aliens and spaceships and things, that don't matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of LIVING your life." She looked up to Jackie and Mickey and spoke earnestly, particularly to him. "You know, he showed you too." Her voice was passionate and gained strength as she spoke. "That you don't just give up. You don't just let things happen. You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away! And I just can't-" She broke off, unable to go on. She kicked the table in frustration, leapt to her feet, and took off running out of the shop.

Astrid looked at the two of them silently, letting the silence grow. "The Doctor was like a brother to her and he means more to me than I can express. The people we care about are dying. What would you do?" She calmly got to her feet and left.

* * *

><p>Astrid met Rose at the TARDIS, Rose had Mickey with her.<p>

Rose was hopeful and lively, gesturing to the console with Mickey behind and to the side of her with Astrid watching. "All the TARDIS needs to do is make a return trip. Just reverse. Astrid, you've done that."

Astrid was already shaking her head. "Not without the Doctor's help. Besides, Lexi gets destinations from your head, she's telepathic."

"You've spoken to her though!"

Astrid gave her friend a raised eyebrow. "This is not a yes or no question, Rose. This is very specific. Lexi is alive, she can listen, but she is an eleventh dimensional being. Shoving herself down to understand us takes a lot of effort."

Rose nodded in understanding. She had seen Astrid 'talk' to Lexi and knew from experience that afterward, a conversation would be impossible for at least a few days. "Fine. Then we need to get inside her. Last time I saw you, Mickey, with the Slitheen, this middle bit opened. And there was this light and the Doctor said it was the heart of the TARDIS. If we can open it, I can make contact. I can tell it what to do."

Mickey was watching the two girls, who were avidly looking at the console panel that could open. "Rose…if you go back, you're gonna die."

Rose shook her head, her voice was confident. "That's a risk I've got to take. 'Cause there's nothing left for me here."

He didn't like the sound of that. "Nothing?"

"No." Her response was quick and that in and of itself communicated how strong that one word was. She couldn't meet his eyes, knowing how much it would hurt him, but it was wrong to string him along when she had Jack now, and she knew it. It was time he understood.

Mickey took the news with as much dignity as he was able and smiled at his former girlfriend. "Okay, if that's what you think, let's get this thing open." He ran off down the ramp.

* * *

><p>Mickey was in his car, which was hooked up with a very strong, thick, heavy chain. The chain went from his bumper to the TARDIS panel with a hook. Rose stood by the panel, hoping to see some progress. Astrid was by the TARDIS doors, making sure that the chain wasn't catching on anything, as she relayed communication between Rose and Mickey.<p>

"Faster!" Rose yelled.

Smoke billowed from the front wheels of Mickey's little blue Beetle, but the console still refused to budge.

Rose called out. "It's not moving!"

The chain got more and more taut, but it still did nothing. Until with a groan from Mickey's car, the chain snaps.

Rose yelped in frustration, kicked the console and leaned down in frustration.

* * *

><p>Astrid let Rose and Jackie have their semi-private conversation from the other side of the console. <em>Just because I know what they are going to say doesn't mean I should butt in.<em> After a few minutes, Jackie ran from the TARDIS, crying, leaving Rose alone. Rose's whole body was shaking with the strength of her grief. Astrid came up to her, drew the blond girl into her arms, and held her for all she was worth. The cold shield she had built up dissolved and the two girls sobbed into each other's arms.

* * *

><p>They were all leaning against Mickey's blue car as they looked at the TARDIS.<p>

Mickey didn't want to give up, just like none of them did. "There's gotta be something else we can do. "

Rose was starting to get defeated. "Mum was right. Maybe we should just lock the door and walk away."

Astrid glared at the blond angrily. "I'm not having that. I'm not having you just- just give up now. No."

Mickey nodded in agreement. "We just need something stronger than my car...something bigger...something like that!" He was looking down the road where a large rescue and recovery truck. It was bright yellow and being driven by Jackie herself. It came to a halt right beside the TARDIS, all of them grinning in amazement and awe.

Jackie jumped out. "Right. You've only got this until six o'clock, so get on with it."

Rose was both astonished that her mother had accomplished such an amazing feat, and amused at the turn around. "Mum, where the hell did you get that from?"

"Rodrigo. He owes me a favor. Never mind why, but you were right about your dad, sweetheart. He was full of mad ideas, and this is exactlywhat he would've done. Now, get on with it before I change my mind." Jackie chucked the keys at Mickey, who caught them with a nod of thanks and they all ran to get into position with the chains and the TARDIS. _Oh, Rassilon. Let us get there in time. Please, let us be in time!_

One end of the chain was attached to the trunk and the hook end was on the console. Jackie watched from outside the TARDIS doors to help communication; Rose was right by the console, Mickey driving the truck. Astrid stood by the console too, but on the other side. She knew it would work this time, and she was getting all the buttons she knew about for certain into the right position.

Rose shouted out to Jackie. "Keep going!"

Jackie in turn called to Mickey. "Put your foot down!"

"Faster!" Rose yelled.

"Give it some more, Mickey!" Astrid barely heard Mickey roar with effort.

"Keep going!"

"Come on, come on!"

The chain began to creak with the strain.

"Keep going!"

"Give it some more!"

That seemed to do it, the catch ripped off of the console and the panel flew up. The same blinding white light from before lit up the entire room, but specifically focused on Rose's eyes. She deliberately gazed into the heart of the TARDIS, and the Time Rotor began to move. It was working.

Astrid watched as two golden streams of the Time Vortex flowed into Rose's eyes. In invisible wind coming from nowhere brushed Rose's hair away from her body even as the golden light vanished into her eyes. Astrid nodded. It was done. But as she looked down, she noticed something else. A small tendrils of light, the heart of the TARDIS, the Time Vortex, creeped along the console and flowed easily into her right hand, making it glow. Astrid jerked her hand back in fear, but it was too late. Her hand glowed golden for a second more before her skin returned to its normal creamy color. _What the hell was that?_

As this was happening, the TARDIS was flying with unnatural speed and they got to the Doctor even faster than they had left. As soon as the ship fully materialized, the doors flew open of their own accord and Rose was at the doorway in an instant, golden light billowing out as she stepped forward.

The light became even brighter, so bright that Astrid had to close her eyes. She had to go to her knees by the console, her hands the only things keeping her upright, trying to get away from the bright white light. She never saw a second small tendril of golden light enter her right hand again. Astrid knew the love Rose had for the Doctor, her sisterly love for the Doctor they both cared so much about, would kill all of the Daleks. Her love for Jack, that love that she had given up Mickey for, would bring him back to life. She knew the Doctor would save Rose because he loved her. He would sacrifice himself to save her life.

So she waited. In only a few minutes, the Time Vortex began to flow back into the TARDIS and the console panel snapped down. The doors to the TARDIS closed gently and quietly and the TARDIS looked normal once again. Astrid opened her eyes and slowly got to her feet as the Doctor came through the doors, holding Rose to his chest. He set her down on the main console floor and looked up at Astrid. The brunette had tears in her eyes, just as she had the last time he had seen her. "I'm sorry, Doctor. There was no other way."

He smiled at her so tenderly, caught her neck in his hand, and pulled her into a deep kiss. She hungrily kissed him back, knowing this would be the last. "It's alright, my little Star." He started up the TARDIS and threw her a wink. "Besides, you said you liked Ten more than Nine."

She gave him a half-hearted glare. "But he won't taste the same as you do."

Rose began to stir and was disoriented as she spoke. "What happened?"

The Doctor looked over at her, surprised. "Don't you remember?"

Rose sat up, her face full of confusion. "It's like… There was this singing."

He gave a grin and cheerfully exclaimed, "That's right! I sang a song and the Daleks ran away."

Astrid rolled her eyes at his small joke, even as Rose struggled to remember. "I was at home. No, I wasn't. I was in the TARDIS and… I can't remember anything else." Astrid looks over and sees the golden glow in the Doctor's hands begin. She glanced up into his face and gave him an encouraging smile.

He turned to Rose, the only one who didn't know what was going to happen. He smiled at her gently. "Rose Tyler." He gave a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "I was gonna take you to so many places. Barcelona, not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it. Fantastic place! They've got dogs with no noses." He laughed at his own joke, the girls joining him with Rose rolling her eyes. "Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's still funny!"

"Then, why can't we go?"

"Maybe you will. And maybe I will. But not like this." He didn't elaborate at all and Rose was starting to get really confused. He wasn't helping.

Rose got to her feet slowly. "You're not making sense!"

"I might never make sense again! I might have two heads. Or no head!" He laughed and gave her a bright smile. "Imagine me with no head!And don't say that's an improvement!" Rose grinned at him with mirth making her eyes twinkle. "But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're gonna end up with." He was suddenly propelled backwards as a blast of golden light encompassed him.

Astrid ran around the console the long way to grab Rose and hold her as well as she could. "Stay back, Rose!"

The Doctor agreed with her, his voice full of urgency as he called out to both of them, "Stay away!"

Rose stopped, staring at him, eyes wide. The Doctor winced in pain. "Doctor. Please. Tell me what's going on."

He still tried to keep his tone light for Rose, despite how much pain he was in. "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that." His face was screwed up in so much pain that Astrid ached in sympathy. Rose could only stare in concern. His tone couldn't keep light hearted. "Every cell in my body's dying."

Rose was horrified, why was Astrid over with her? "Can't you do something?"

"Yeah, I'm doing it now! Time Lords have this little trick, it's... sort of a way of cheating death. Except..." He looked directly into her eyes, trying to convey that he was sorry. He knew that Rose didn't understand. "It means I'm gonna change." Rose shook her head. "And I'm not gonna see you again. Not like this. Not with this daft old face." He laughed softly, not wanting to scare the blond girl. "And before I go…"

Rose cut him off, upset with the conversation. They had just saved everyone from the Daleks and he was still going to die? "Don't say that."

"Rose…" She backed down, listening. "Before I go I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic." His blue eyes went to Astrid, who was standing behind Rose and to the side. He smiled widely, his voice so full of pride and his eyes were holding so much care for his Star. "Absolutely fantastic." He looked back at Rose. "And d'you know what?" Rose shook her head sadly even as the Doctor grinned. "So was I." Rose smiled, nodding through the tears she refused to let fall.

The Doctor smiled widely back at her for the last few moments before suddenly, he convulsed and orange, yellow, and golden energy exploded from his skin, blasting out of the neck of his jumper, the sleeves of his jacket and the bottoms of his trousers. Rose and Astrid staggered backwards, shielding their eyes from the heat and light - but they cannot look away. Rose stared transfixed, as gradually, the Doctor's hair lengthened, his face changed... until the energy eventually died away and a completely new man stood before her, still wearing the old Doctor's clothes. He looked slightly surprised for a moment, before turning to look at Rose and Astrid.

"Hello! Okay-oo." He gulped and ran his tongue over his teeth, brow furrowed in a small frown. _He looks just like David Tennant! Why the heck does that sort of coincidence occur? If this is all a delusion in my head, I'm going to be really pissed off when I wake up in the mental hospital!_ He was still talking. "New teeth. That's weird. So, where was I? Oh, that's right! Barcelona."

Rose stared at him with undisguised shock and he grinned at her.

Astrid had no such compunction. She marched right up to Ten, balled up her fist, and punched him directly in his nose. "That's for handcuffing me to the railing! Where the hell did you get psychic handcuffs anyway?" He hand one hand over his nose, staring at her in shock, unable to answer. She grabbed the lapels of his jacket—well, the Ninth Doctor's jacket—and pulled him close to kiss the dickens out of him. He grinned into her mouth and she mapped out his mouth with her tongue and he with hers. When she finally pulled back, she was breathless, but she still managed to say, "And that's for not dying." She smiled up at him and his new brown eyes stared down at her, smiling. "Oh, and if you EVER handcuff me again without my consent first, I will force you into an early Eleven. Got it?" He nodded quickly.

* * *

><p><em>Okay, everybody! This is the end of 'Sister Star'. Now, don't get your panties in a twist, Astrid is not done yet. I just changed Doctors, which means I have to change stories so that the correct characters can be listed. No biggee. The next story will be called 'Starfall' and should have the first chapter out within the week. And for a teaser, just remember that little golden light that went into Astrid. I'm going to have all kinds of fun with that in 'Starfall'! I hope you continue to read!<em>

_Remember people! Reviews are love!_


	14. Author's Note

**Author's Note!**

This is the end of 'Sister Star'…obviously. This little note is to inform those that need to be informed that 'Starfall' the sequel to 'Sister Star' is up and the first chapter is already posted. The second is at the beta right now, and should be up within the next few hours or a day at the most. Yippee!

I hope that you have enjoyed 'Sister Star'.

Don't forget to review!


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